NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Solar mini grids have the potential to meet the electricity needs of nearly half a billion people in unpowered or underserved areas of the world and become a cost-effective solution to close the energy access gap by 2030.

However, governments and industry have to work together to realise the full potential by identifying mini grid opportunities, driving costs down and overcoming financing barriers, the World Bank said in its latest report.

To power 490 million people by 2030 will require the construction of more than 217,000 mini grids at a cumulative cost of $127 billion.