ACE TAF SAS Bulletin, Issue 8

10 December 2021

SAS BULLETIN - Issue 7

Solar testing at the Quality Test Lab, Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

Foreword

As we come to the end of a very challenging 2021, we look back and reflect on many changes that occurred especially within the ACE TAF Programme. This included a reduction of countries from the fourteen we were working on to focus on Nigeria, Ethiopia and Zambia. In this issue we focus on some of the work done in Nigeria and in subsequent issues we will highlight progress in Ethiopia and Zambia.

In spite of Nigeria being one of Africa’s economic super powers, it continues to grapple with low clean energy access rates. Even in urban and more affluent areas grid power is supplemented by diesel generators for several hours a day. It is estimated that Nigeria has the largest addressable market for stand-alone solar (SAS) at 77 million people. This presents great opportunities but also challenges. ACE TAF has worked closely with the Rural Electrification Authority to address policies and regulations that provide for an enabling environment that catalyzes the private sector participation in the off-grid sector. A vibrant and enabling environment will attract investors into the market.

This year, the Government of Nigeria showed commitment to expanding clean energy access through the launch of the Solar Naija Programme which aims at deploying 5 million SAS products that will contribute to the attainment of universal access goals. Embracing SAS as part of the energy mix is certainly a step in the right direction.

We also feature our work with the World Resources Institute on developing the Energy Access Explorer (EAE) platform which provides geo-spatial data maps to key stakeholders in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Zambia to assist in energy planning. In this issue, we specifically dive into the EAE maps in Zambia with some interesting information on how we extended the data analysis to support the Ministry of Health in identifying rural healthcare centres' capacity needs and costs associated with electrifying remote clinics through off-grid solar.

From Ethiopia we highlight lessons from the process of setting up a Pre-export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme. The Government of Ethiopia has made progress on protecting consumers from poor quality solar products through the PVOC programme.

On behalf of ACE TAF Team, we wish you and your loved ones happy holidays and a prosperous 2022!

Pauline Githugu,

ACE TAF Team Leader

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Spotlight on Nigeria

Nigeria has 77 million people without access to electricity mainly in rural communities. The Government of Nigeria is keen to address this problem and aims to achieve 100% electrification by 2040, with 5% share through Stand-Alone Solar (SAS) solutions. Between 2015 and 2020, the SAS sector has grown significantly, attracting about USD 227 million from a wide range of investors. Moreover, the ACE TAF Market Research found that the off-grid market opportunity is estimated at $9.2 billion per year. Despite these prospects several barriers have inhibited the scale-up of the SAS market. The Africa Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility (ACE TAF) has worked with government, donors and the private sector in the following areas:

Deep dive research to identify market opportunities for solar solutions
Advocating for tax exemptions to expand distribution of affordable stand alone solar
Collaborating to develop off-grid solar policies in Lagos State
Publishing a guide on e-waste management
Mapping the investment landscape for stand-alone solar in Nigeria
Supporting the adoption and enforcement of quality standards

Reliable data helps to electrify remote health centers in Zambia

Access to reliable data has been a key constraint to development in Africa, affecting all sectors including energy. Yet energy is the cornerstone for socio-economic development and linked with 125 (74%) of the 169 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. It is unfortunate that energy expansion planning oftentimes relies on limited data. With evolving technology, this should change.

Zambia has a total population of about 18.3 million people, with more than half living with no access to basic energy services. The country mainly relies on hydropower for electricity generation, whose capacity has been affected by frequent droughts. Consequently, the country has been facing load shedding that sometimes lasts up to 20 hours a day. Such power cuts have had a huge impact on the country’s economy and the government has been looking for ways to diversify the national energy mix to achieve universal electrification by 2030. To attain this goal, access to reliable data will be crucial. Read more

Consumer protection: Lessons from developing the Pre-export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme in Ethiopia

One of the top priorities for the Government of Ethiopia is to safeguard the country from unfair trade practices and the dumping of substandard goods. However, close to 60% of solar products imported into Ethiopia are of poor quality. To address this, the government has been working with ACE TAF in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) over the last two years to ensure imported products comply with the national quality standards. In April 2021 the Ethiopian Quality Standards (ES IEC TS 62257-9-8: 2020) for solar products up to 350Wp were adopted and the process of enforcing the standards began. On 30 September 2021, the government officially launched the Pre-export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme. The PVoC is a comprehensive process that starts at the country of origin to ensure imported products adhere to Ethiopian standards and regulations. Two companies, Cotecna and Bureau Veritas have been awarded contracts to conduct PVoC assessments for solar products. Read more

ACE TAF continues to provide insights through the End-User Subsidies Lab webinar series

On 30 September 2021, ACE TAF, ESMAP/Lighting Global and GOGLA launched the End-User Subsidies Lab. The End-User Subsidies Lab aims to address the 'affordability gap' for consumers of standalone solar products and contribute to the attainment of SDG 7 on universal access to clean and reliable energy by 2030. Evidence shows that off-grid solar is the cheapest and fastest way to electrify people in rural areas that have no access to the grid. However, over 100 million people are not able to afford solar products at the current prices. End-user subsidies address this affordability gap by directly reducing costs for consumers. It is important that such subsidies are designed carefully so that they a) work alongside other ‘pro-poor solutions’ (e.g. fiscal support, financial innovations, supply-side subsidies), and b) do not impede other energy access efforts. Read more

From our Partners

CLASP Policy Resource Center

The CLASP Policy Resource Center (CPRC) is a global hub for information on energy efficiency, water efficiency, and quality standards for appliances and equipment from over 120 global economies. This includes quality standards for standalone solar products, both those already adopted and those currently under development. The most comprehensive global policy platform of its kind, the CPRC is designed to be an easily searchable library and eliminate time spent manually compiling resources from a deluge of online content. Visit the center

Quality in the off-grid solar market report

With financial support from UK Aid and the World Bank Group, VeraSol commissioned a first-of-its-kind study to evaluate consumers’ experiences with off-grid solar products in Kenya. This study sought to complement the existing laboratory-based data on quality assurance by focusing on how consumers interact with quality-verified and non-quality verified products.

Overall, the consumers surveyed confirm that off-grid solar products are indeed delivering as expected, with about 70% expressing satisfaction with the solar product’s durability, price and aftersales services offered. Read the full report here.

Why effective corporate governance is important in the early stages of an off-grid solar company

Many early-stage off-grid solar companies do not have corporate governance at the top of their priority list, as they are running their day-to-day operations and try to manage their business as best as they can. Some may also believe implementing a formal corporate governance framework is only necessary at a later stage, when they are ‘’big enough”. Although this is understandable and the creation of the right corporate governance structures and policies is sometimes challenging, this approach misses an important opportunity. Read more