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What We Do

The GMG Facility Kenya enhances access to energy in Kenya by encouraging private investment in mini grids based on renewable energy. Supported by the United Kingdom and the European Union, DfID (now FCDO) and the EU-AITF provide funding for grants and technical assistance to both the private developers and the sector as a whole to help develop the marketplace for mini-grids in Kenya and support them to leverage additional financing institutions and private investors to scale up the business.
 
The GMG Facility Kenya is expected to achieve the following results:
  1. 100,000 Kenyans will get access to reliable green electricity.
  2. 20,000 expected new connections.
  3. 6-8 mini-grid developers supported with grants and/or technical assistance.
  4. 2 megawatts of energy are added to Kenya’s energy resources
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Why We Do

As of 2020, the population of Kenya is estimated to be 54 million.  Access to electricity has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. The last Census of 2019 reports that over 50% of the people use mains electricity for lighting while about 25% use some kind of solar product. Although Kenya exceeds the average rate of access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, the gap between urban and rural areas remains very wide. The Government has ambitious plans to deliver universal access and power supply to all Kenyans is regarded as one of the Vision 2030 ambitions and is part of the SE4ALL agenda.

Despite the great achievements in the last decade, the interconnected electricity system covers mainly the areas with higher population densities in the coastal, central, eastern, and western parts of the country. As such, most of the northern and North Eastern regions of the country have low grid coverage and overall many people in the rural areas remain unserved by the national grid. The Kenya National Electrification Strategy from 2018 identifies 5.6 million new connections needed to reach universal coverage in 10 years’ time at costs of €2.7 billion either through the national grid or through solar-powered solutions.  This includes mini-grids for hard-to-reach population pockets which are difficult to serve through the national grid. Public-operated mini-grids serving isolated towns have been in operation in Kenya for many years. These were initially diesel-based powered but more recently renewable energy (mostly wind and solar) has been integrated into these mini-grids. Privately developed and operated mini-grids came to Kenya on a pilot basis less than 10 years ago and have been spreading slowly.  They face numerous challenges such as:

  • Limited understanding of the demand for electricity in the unserved areas and sizing of systems
  • Insufficient funding for capital investments
  • Changing institutional and regulatory environment
  • Higher mini-grid tariffs as compared to national tariffs
  • Uncertainty on compensation when the national grid and mini-grid meet
The GMG Facility Kenya aims to assist mini-grid developers in addressing these challenges and building a sustainable and scalable business model.
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How We Do

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  1. GMG Facility publishes Call for Proposals for Grant and Technical Assistance (TA). The calls are guided by the availability of funding.
  2. Submission of Applications – every Applicant must register their organization on the GMG Facility online platform http://extranet.gmgfacilitykenya.org/.  Applications for support are submitted through the GMG Facility online platform.
  3. Selection of Applications – The GMG Facility evaluate project applications and carries out thorough due diligence of shortlisted proposals. Final selection is approved by AFD.
  4. Award – Successful developers are awarded with a Grant for Investment support or for Technical Assistance, reflecting the potential of the proposal.
  5. Verification and reporting – GMG Facility carries out monitoring and reviews of the grant projects on a regular basis and through an Independent Verification Agent before disbursement of any funding to ensure that the projects meet the grant conditions.
  6. Monitoring and Evaluation – GMG Facility measures the results and impact of the projects through its Internal M&E Programme and reports to AFD, development partners and other stakeholders.