We are happy to announce Powerhive’s participation in Beyond the Grid, a new initiative under the US Government’s Power Africa program, which is working to provide electricity for 20 million homes and businesses in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Powerhive has joined 26 other energy providers and investors in a partnership to invest more than $1 billion to seed and scale rural electrification projects in these countries.

Understanding that traditional grid expansion is not a viable solution for most people living in these countries, the US Government has launched Beyond the Grid specifically to support the development of small scale and off-grid projects. Under the initiative, the US Government and a number of other public and private organizations will develop new policy proposals, provide technical expertise and financing, and create new financial instruments that include combined donor and private capital, and a new asset class of aggregated, de-risked, small scale energy projects.

Beyond the Grid is a critical step forward for energy access, and will have major benefits for Powerhive. Standard policy and regulatory frameworks will emerge that reduce operational risk, and lead to faster project development. Most importantly, financing made available through the initiative will enable Powerhive to rapidly scale operations. In return for this support, Powerhive has committed to delivering the following contribution by 2020:

The US Government has launched Beyond the Grid specifically to support the development of small scale and off-grid projects.

• Deploy, or assist in deploying Powerhive microgrids with a total value of at least $200 million in debt and equity, delivering clean and reliable electricity to 500,000 homes and businesses in at least five Power Africa countries.
• Develop local capacity and create at least 50,000 local jobs.
• Cultivate enduring relationships with local stakeholders so Powerhive can continue to deliver sustainable energy solutions for many decades.
• Already, Powerhive is aggressively expanding off-grid energy access in Kenya and Tanzania, and will extend operations to additional Power Africa countries during the next few years.

Off-grid solutions have finally been recognized as a viable means of addressing the world’s most persistent energy access challenges. Beyond the Grid is kickstarting real progress toward universal energy access and helping Powerhive deliver the productive energy required to improve millions of people’s wellbeing, while minimizing the impact on climate change.