Mini-grids are the fastest way to get electricity to the half billion people on the African continent who still lack access. But deployment has been moving too slowly, mainly because current business models do not yield enough profit to attract private investment. I talk with someone who's trying to change that.
Absolutely naive interview. I grew up in Africa and left at 27 (1976) having been educated in Zimbabwe and South Africa. I have returned every 2-4 yrs to visit my sister and nephew. Not a word about about +95% of African countries been ruled by corrupt dictators only out to line their regimes pockets and gladly taking billions in funding from the UN/World Bank with few strings attached, and China with mineral rights and land access as surity! Electric cars and battery storage - dream on! Even the US (where I've lived for over 30 years) have only 7 minutes of their total grid power in battery storage - once that's done, they our out until power is restored. It's laughable to talk of mini grids while people are walking miles to gather water from a polluted river or bore hole operated by a diesel generator funded by the Chinese. Living in Lala land, big time 😆
Interesting and educational interview. Definitely a different part of the electricity market than I usually am reading about.
However, I do want to challenge you on your comments about the return requirements of investors. Here it seems like an especially good cause so it is easy to grumble about it, but interest rates have increased globally (and for good reason) and I think it is important to be clear eyed about the impact that will have on the clean energy rollout generally (and many other sectors). The facts are that today an investor can get a 5-6% return by lending to some of the biggest and most stable companies in the US. So to go into any kind of risky investment, they are going to need to get better than that. There is a lot of patient capital out there (pension funds, life insurance companies, etc.), but most of that has legal obligations to do the best for its beneficiaries and can't offer concessionary rates.
Was there any off-air discussion about linkage of micro-grid installations with telecom upgrades/installations (internet/phone/video/education/etc)? Possible development and demand synergies?
Also, in the absence of coordinated tax policies/subsidies, are there opportunities for sector growth through not-for-profit company organization?
Similarly, any programs from international nations and institutions to support/finance microgrid start-ups? Potential goodwill/soft-power incentives.
The ~$90B figure to provide some level of service to 500 million people has been sticking in my head.
Then, today, I hear this:
The world's nine nuclear-armed states spent altogether $91.4 billion (€85.4 billion) on their arsenals in 2023, a $10.7 billion increase on the year before, according to a report by the Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Of course, the good old USA spent over half of that, and we wouldn't dream of sending that money overseas to help some foreigners.
Like several others, my first thought is, if the sticking point is the initial capital to get the micro-grids installed, whether there might be some combination of donations and investors willing to forego large returns for the sake of the climate/international development, that would help as microgrids are starting to ramp up. Specifically, I'd love to know - if I, as a person who'd love to see microgrids be successful, wanted to drop a bit of money (with or without a return) into a solar microgrid project/company, is there any way for me to do that? Is there a company listed on the stock market I could invest in? A website I should go to to make a donation? Anyone have a good recommendation?
As someone who works to expand access to healthy foods in the most marginalized communities in sub-Saharan Africa, I found this episode inspiring. Small enterprises need energy to succeed, and these microgrids are great solutions. C'mon everyone, the inspiring guest admitted the challenges but showed courage and ingenuity. Of course it's hard, but creative talents like Tombo Banda will show the way to success. We need her courage more than cynicism!
The article's emphasis is on mini-grids, but this is only one element in a range of scenarios. The IEA think an investment of $30bn per year until 2030 is required for building an approx 50:50 mix of traditional grids vs. mini-grids+off-grid. This also assumes renewables will comprise 90% of all new connections:
But the main issue for locally built energy provision isn't technology, manufacturing or initial funding, it's getting sufficient money to filter down to the right locations and people. As with food distribution, much of the energy distribution in Africa is plagued by conflict, corruption, theft and insufficient long-term planning.
Then there's long-term management of any new infrastructure. South Africa is a good example of how an electrical grid can decay through underfunded maintenance, training and plant upgrades, with scheduled load-shedding now occurring multiple times a day across the country. Their recent general election does show that reduced access to electricity is a vote loser.
The emphasis here is on a majority of supply via mini-grids, but a range of scenarios have been outlined. The IEA think an investment of $30bn per year until 2030 is required for building an approx 50:50 mix of traditional grids vs. mini-grids+off-grid. This also assumes renewables will comprise 90% of all new connections:
But the main issue for locally built energy provision isn't technology, manufacturing or initial funding, it's getting sufficient money to filter down to the right locations and people. As with food distribution, much of the energy distribution in Africa is plagued by conflict, corruption, theft and insufficient long-term planning.
Then there's long-term management of the new infrastructure. South Africa is a good example of how an electrical grid can decay through underfunded maintenance, training and plant upgrades, with scheduled load-shedding now occurring multiple times a day across the country.
Absolutely naive interview. I grew up in Africa and left at 27 (1976) having been educated in Zimbabwe and South Africa. I have returned every 2-4 yrs to visit my sister and nephew. Not a word about about +95% of African countries been ruled by corrupt dictators only out to line their regimes pockets and gladly taking billions in funding from the UN/World Bank with few strings attached, and China with mineral rights and land access as surity! Electric cars and battery storage - dream on! Even the US (where I've lived for over 30 years) have only 7 minutes of their total grid power in battery storage - once that's done, they our out until power is restored. It's laughable to talk of mini grids while people are walking miles to gather water from a polluted river or bore hole operated by a diesel generator funded by the Chinese. Living in Lala land, big time 😆
Interesting and educational interview. Definitely a different part of the electricity market than I usually am reading about.
However, I do want to challenge you on your comments about the return requirements of investors. Here it seems like an especially good cause so it is easy to grumble about it, but interest rates have increased globally (and for good reason) and I think it is important to be clear eyed about the impact that will have on the clean energy rollout generally (and many other sectors). The facts are that today an investor can get a 5-6% return by lending to some of the biggest and most stable companies in the US. So to go into any kind of risky investment, they are going to need to get better than that. There is a lot of patient capital out there (pension funds, life insurance companies, etc.), but most of that has legal obligations to do the best for its beneficiaries and can't offer concessionary rates.
Was there any off-air discussion about linkage of micro-grid installations with telecom upgrades/installations (internet/phone/video/education/etc)? Possible development and demand synergies?
Also, in the absence of coordinated tax policies/subsidies, are there opportunities for sector growth through not-for-profit company organization?
Similarly, any programs from international nations and institutions to support/finance microgrid start-ups? Potential goodwill/soft-power incentives.
The ~$90B figure to provide some level of service to 500 million people has been sticking in my head.
Then, today, I hear this:
The world's nine nuclear-armed states spent altogether $91.4 billion (€85.4 billion) on their arsenals in 2023, a $10.7 billion increase on the year before, according to a report by the Geneva-based International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Of course, the good old USA spent over half of that, and we wouldn't dream of sending that money overseas to help some foreigners.
Like several others, my first thought is, if the sticking point is the initial capital to get the micro-grids installed, whether there might be some combination of donations and investors willing to forego large returns for the sake of the climate/international development, that would help as microgrids are starting to ramp up. Specifically, I'd love to know - if I, as a person who'd love to see microgrids be successful, wanted to drop a bit of money (with or without a return) into a solar microgrid project/company, is there any way for me to do that? Is there a company listed on the stock market I could invest in? A website I should go to to make a donation? Anyone have a good recommendation?
Heather, I can't personally vouch for them, but these guys came across my radar shortly after this episode went up:
https://thebaobabnetwork.com/
Looks like a way for investors to get involved in sub-Saharan companies.
As someone who works to expand access to healthy foods in the most marginalized communities in sub-Saharan Africa, I found this episode inspiring. Small enterprises need energy to succeed, and these microgrids are great solutions. C'mon everyone, the inspiring guest admitted the challenges but showed courage and ingenuity. Of course it's hard, but creative talents like Tombo Banda will show the way to success. We need her courage more than cynicism!
The article's emphasis is on mini-grids, but this is only one element in a range of scenarios. The IEA think an investment of $30bn per year until 2030 is required for building an approx 50:50 mix of traditional grids vs. mini-grids+off-grid. This also assumes renewables will comprise 90% of all new connections:
https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-electricity#outlook-for-electricity-access
But the main issue for locally built energy provision isn't technology, manufacturing or initial funding, it's getting sufficient money to filter down to the right locations and people. As with food distribution, much of the energy distribution in Africa is plagued by conflict, corruption, theft and insufficient long-term planning.
Then there's long-term management of any new infrastructure. South Africa is a good example of how an electrical grid can decay through underfunded maintenance, training and plant upgrades, with scheduled load-shedding now occurring multiple times a day across the country. Their recent general election does show that reduced access to electricity is a vote loser.
The emphasis here is on a majority of supply via mini-grids, but a range of scenarios have been outlined. The IEA think an investment of $30bn per year until 2030 is required for building an approx 50:50 mix of traditional grids vs. mini-grids+off-grid. This also assumes renewables will comprise 90% of all new connections:
https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-electricity#outlook-for-electricity-access
But the main issue for locally built energy provision isn't technology, manufacturing or initial funding, it's getting sufficient money to filter down to the right locations and people. As with food distribution, much of the energy distribution in Africa is plagued by conflict, corruption, theft and insufficient long-term planning.
Then there's long-term management of the new infrastructure. South Africa is a good example of how an electrical grid can decay through underfunded maintenance, training and plant upgrades, with scheduled load-shedding now occurring multiple times a day across the country.