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Do Surveys Fall Short? Solving the Challenge of Predicting Mini-Grid Energy Usage in Africa
Half of Africa’s population is living without electricity, and mini-grids could connect at least 100 million of these 600 million people. But mini-grid developers struggle to profitably serve these potential customers, due in part to the difficulty of accurately forecasting their electricity demand. Analysts at CrossBoundary explore why this process is so complex and prone to inaccuracy, why surveying customers is often ineffective – and what can be done about it.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Tags
- data, energy access, off-grid energy, research
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Kenya’s Clean Energy Offers Surge Amid Oversupply Fears
Kenya is gradually boosting the contribution non-large hydro renewables make to its grid by adding more solar, wind and geothermal capacity
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy
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$120M Growth Fund to Boost African Off-Grid Solar Power Companies
The fund is designed to provide patient, flexible capital combined with technical assistance that is currently lacking in the off-grid energy ecosystem.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Shell Foundation and FMO Collaborate to Help Achieve Clean Energy Access in Sub-Saharan Africa
Shell Foundation, a UK-registered charity, together with FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, announces the launch of the US$120 million Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF), with an initial close of US$45 million, providing catalytic financing to early to growth stage companies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) operating in the access to energy ecosystem.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- energy access, SDGs
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Clean Power Finance ‘Falls’ in Emerging Markets
Overall, declining costs for solar and wind played a considerable factor in the fall in absolute dollar investment in emerging economies, the research found.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Beyond the Bottom Line: How Changing the Supplier-Distributor Dynamic Creates Better Products for People Living in Poverty
A good relationship between suppliers and distributors is crucial when doing business in challenging markets. But in too many cases, these relationships are purely transactional, one-way and unresponsive, say Sahil Khanna at Greenlight Planet and Murli Padmanabhan at Pollinate Group. They explore how their organizations have avoided this pitfall in creating a true partnership that allows them to distribute solar products more effectively to their customers.
- Categories
- Energy
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China Plans Measures to Boost Revenues for Renewable Power Companies
Despite rapid expansion and a drastic fall in the cost of producing power, renewable firms are still struggling to produce power as cheaply as coal-fired plants.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- renewable energy
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African Cleantech Deals Stand Over Regular VC Funding Like A Familiar Solar Tower
Africa has all the makings of the world’s cleanest economic revolution. By leveraging renewable energy sources to brighten an extensive stretch of urbanization, the continent’s sunshine is not entirely going to waste.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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