energy access

Governments should focus on mini-grids as a means to enabling access to reliable electricity for hundreds of millions of people that don’t yet have it and mini-grids using solar and batteries have matured as a technology class, but financing such projects remains problematic, a new report has found.

California-headquartered minigrid company Powerhive, scheduled to attend Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa in Tanzania next week, is the first private company registered as a utility in Kenya. Andy Colthorpe spoke with Daniel Porras, vice president for impact and communications and a member of the executive team.

A 20-fold increase in off-grid power connections is among the aims of a plan to achieve universal energy access in Africa by 2025.