In September 2016 IED signed a contract with AFD for the implementation of the Green Mini Grid Facility in Kenya in partnership with Practical Action Consulting from UK and I-DEV, an american financial management consultancy group. The program’s budget is 8(or €9.5m) provided by the UK’s Department for International Development. The DFID program, now FCDO (Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office) ended officially on 31 March 2021.

GMG has supported three private companies (Powerhive, PowerGen and RVE Sol) in the development and construction of solar powered mini grids through investment grants based on defined milestones at different stages of the project and through output based grants as per number of connections. Overall the grants added up €5.4million and this combined with the investments made by the companies, has resulted in around 1300 kWp solar power and 10,000 connections divided over 50 sites all in rural areas in Western Kenya. Tariffs are regulated by the Government and range between $ 0.50 – 0.75 and connection fees vary between $10 to 50.

GMG has also supported developers and the overall sector in the promotion of productive use of energy with guidelines for icemaking and milling, access to finance for appliances. Developers have invested in internet services, chicken rearing, welding and carpentry businesses, e-cooking and e-transport. The impact of these activities is still being monitored through GMG.

The program has also worked closely with the Ministry of Energy in Kenya in the development of mini grid regulations, tariff modelling and electronic processing. 

The GMG program in Kenya is continuing till 31 December 2021 with support of the EU Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund which has contributed €5.65 million for additional grant and technical support to the developers and the sector.

IED has been working since mid-2020 on a World Bank-funded renewable energy electrification planning project for 21 democratic Republic of Congo towns. The main objective of this project is to identify technical solutions to significantly increase access to electrification over the next twenty years.

The national rate of access to electricity in the DRC is close to 9% with large disparities between provinces and between urban areas where the rate is 35% compared to 1% in rural areas. Rural electrification based on renewable energy (solar, hydroelectric or biomass) represents a concrete challenge for access to energy in isolated areas.

As part of this project, an IED expert visited the DRC from 22 February to 12 March 2021 in order to :

• Carry out the potential study of two hydroelectric sites near the capitals of Kananga and Tshikapa;

• Provide training on small hydropower to ministry of energy and hydraulic resources staff. For example, 6 agents of the Congolese Ministry of Energy and Hydraulic Resources were equipped by IED with tools to carry out pre-feasibility studies of hydroelectric sites over the water, using the  RetScreen  Expert software.

Since January 2020, IED has been working as prime contractor with Expertise France on the ECLER Ivoire project, which aims to electrify 16 isolated villages in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

In September  2020, the first works were launched for the building and implementation of the networks as well as the civil engineering works of the power plants.

By the end of January 2021, the buildings of the production plants in the Tiassale area were ready to receive their equipment.

Today a new stage was reached :  the installation of the first photovoltaic fields !  

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, IED journeys to its intervention countries have led to a sharp reduction in  IED displacement, have resulted in the emission of  60 tonnes of CO2 for the year 2020.

The carbon offset process allows you to participate in projects that acts on reducing greenhouse gases.

The projects supported this year are in two new IED intervention countries:

• Myanmar Stoves Campaign - 30T:

The Improved Stoves Campaign in Myanmar, a program of the Soneva Foundation, is the first Gold Standard Certified Carbon Project in Myanmar. Rural families in Myanmar spend more than 40% of their income - or the equivalent in time - when buying or collecting and cutting wood to feed the stoves for cooking.

Here, each cooker reduces wood consumption by at least 50%, which both reduces the pressure on forests and household spending on fuel. Air pollution is reduced by 80%, which also improves the health and safety of the community as a whole. Carbon emissions are reduced by 60 % equivalent to 4 tonnes per year per stove.

• Qori Q'oncha Improved Cookstoves in Peru - 30 T:

The MICROSOL initiative,"Qori Q'oncha - Diffusion of Improved Cooking Homes Program in Peru", coordinates various distribution of stoves in Peru. Improved cooking stoves (ICS)  are built with local materials by local residents. Each new stove emits less greenhouse gases (GHGs) than the original stove, which helps reduce global emissions.

This project helps vulnerable families in rural areas access energy and better cooking solutions for their health, less costly to manage and require less firewood (-39%).

The Gold Standard : https://www.goldstandard.org/