ARE Member EDP sponsors 8 clean energy access projects in Africa with €500,000
Lisbon, 15 June 2020 – The projects will be implemented in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Malawi, and are expected to benefit more than one million people. The overall amount to be invested through the A2E Fund stands at €500,000.
ARE Member EDP will sponsor eight sustainable and renewable energy projects in five African countries through the A2E (Access to Energy) Fund. Totaling half a million euros, the financing aims to promote access to clean energy in particularly remote and underprivileged areas and to help tackle energy poverty in that region.
For this second edition of the fund, EDP has received 160 applications and selected eight proposals to be implemented in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and also Nigeria, which now joins the four countries covered last year. As in the previous edition, the A2E Fund invests in projects covering five priority areas – education, health, agriculture, companies, and local communities – and underscores evaluation criteria such as social impact, partnerships, sustainability, expansion potential, and financial viability.
Ranging from the installation of solar panels to the creation of innovative irrigation systems, all projects are based on sustainable rules and the goal of improving the lives of local communities – it is estimated that the sponsored initiatives will benefit – directly and indirectly – more than one million people in the five countries. With three projects, Kenya stands out in the list of selected organisations: KarGeno, Dadreg, and Centrum Narovinu. It is followed by Malawi, with two organisations: aQysta and Unicef. Mozambique is represented by VIDA, Nigeria by the Don Bosco Salesians, and Tanzania by the Aga Khan Foundation.
Aimed at both profit and nonprofit organizations, the A2E Fund follows up on the program launched in 2018, which in that first edition received as many as 108 applications from four countries and provided €450,000 for new projects in areas and populations in need. As in the first year, the fund continues to provide each selected project with financial support ranging from €25,000 to €100,000.
With this second edition of the A2E Fund, EDP strengthens its commitment to sustainability and to tackling poverty and electric exclusion, which still affect the lives of millions of people, especially in remote and underprivileged rural communities in developing countries. This financial support is part of a global strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, which has led the company to invest in several projects in that region. Such is the case of the 2018 investment on Mozambique-based company SolarWorks!, a firm that creates decentralised solar energy solutions, and, more recently, of the bet on Rensource, a Nigerian startup that develops and manages solar energy systems.
What each of the 8 projects does
- KarGeno has submitted a sustainable irrigation project in Mabinju, Kenya. The project plans to install ten drip irrigation systems with a solar pump, thus supplying ten groups of farmers, and two water tanks for each group. The project will benefit 1/3 of the families with agricultural plots.
- Also in Kenya, Dadreg has applied with a 15 kWp solar energy system for a community training center in Nairobi. This system will allow 980 young people from an underprivileged neighborhood to get professional training for paid jobs. It will also contribute to reducing energy costs by 70%.
- Centrum Narovinu has submitted a project for a 20 kWp solar system that will supply the ‘Island of Hope’, a community center on Rusinga Island, Kenya. The institution, which welcomes orphans and vulnerable children, includes a kindergarten, a primary school, a secondary school, an orphanage, a medical clinic, and a computer lab.
- UNICEF has applied with a project to install two 1.8 kWp solar energy systems for water pumping in two schools and neighboring communities in Malawi. The system will provide local communities with access to drinking water.
- aQysta’s ‘Easi-Water, Easi-Pay’ project plans to install 50 hydroelectric power pumps and 50 irrigation kits to support the work of 250 small farmers in three Malawian districts. Thanks to this system, local farmers will have access to irrigation during the dry season.
- VIDA plans to install solar panels for a water pump irrigation system in Mozambique. The project also involves the lighting of a training center and a crafts workshop in Matatuine district, providing easier access to information on forestation processes, agroforestry systems, food security, and how to boost honey production.
- The Aga Khan Foundation proposed the creation of the ‘Mwanza Solar Switch’, a 39.6 kWp solar system for the Aga Khan Hospital in Tanzania, and 26 solar water heating devices. The goal is to avoid the frequent power outages, cut on the electricity bill, and replace the diesel consumption of backup generators.
- The Don Bosco Salesians Center in Nigeria plans to install a 10 kWp solar system to supply its Vocational and Professional Education Center. The project also includes the creation of a workshop to train electricians and experts on solar systems for electricity production.
You can learn more about the projects selected by the A2E Fund here.