People
SDG 7.1 + 7.2 – Access to affordable and reliable renewable energy.
Expected impact: 12k rural low-income end users are expected to benefit. The largest impact is expected for users who consume the most power.
Country
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Sector
Energy and Electrification
Total commitments
$0.73m
equity and 250k debt to construct four mini-grids and three agro-processing hubs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (LDC and FCAS). This will add 3.3k new connections to provide reliable power to 12k end users and 204 businesses who will benefit from increased productivity.
Related SDG Goals
Wider Economy
SDG 8.5 – Achieve full and productive employment.
Expected impact: 204 businesses are expected to benefit from improved productivity under the agro-processing hub model which will in turn create indirect jobs. Sectors are likely to include water purification, fish drying, cold storage and maize milling.
Market Transformation
Challenge: Lack of private sector appetite for mini-grids in sub-Saharan Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Channel: Improve the overall commercial viability of the mini-grids through the demonstration of the agro-processing hub model where anchor business customers cross subsidise connections for household customers.
Outcome: Replication of model by other mini-grid companies, thereby attracting additional private sector capital into the sector.
Mobilisation
Mobilised $0.4m from the private sector.
PIDG TA
$0.68m capital grant to meet a funding gap on the project.
Climate
Transition risk: The existing diesel generators will be replaced, with over 90% of power being provided via a solar and battery system. Diesel back-up will be required to meet energy demand during the rainy season.
Resilience: Climate risks will be assessed for all site locations as part of the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) requirements.
Mini grids are considered more resilient to the impacts of climate change than centralised power systems. Their decentralised nature means fewer people will be affected by an outage, and their modular structure allows them to resume operations more quickly after an extreme weather event.
Gender Empowerment
Equatorial Power will implement recommendations to empower women through conducting gender disaggregated consultations across household and businesses customers, applying adjustments through learning from the consultation process, and monitoring the gender specific outcomes. Women are also expected to represent 40% of long-term workforce.
HSES
As part of the due diligence process, 19 HSES improvements were identified which are now reflected in the ESAP.
