INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
Renewable energy projects
to provide electricity to 2.4
million people
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programme is already supporting 18
renewable energy projects in a range of
countries from Tanzania to Burundi. These
projects, featuring solar, wind, biomass,
hydro and geothermal technologies, are
expected to provide new or improved access
for more than 4.5 million people over the
project lifetimes, creating 8,000 jobs during
development and operation.
Expected results from some of the 18 projects
already receiving support from REPP are:
H
undreds of thousands of people in
sub-Saharan Africa will get access to
electricity for the first time thanks to
an extra £100 million of funding from the
UK government.
The new investment triples funds for the
Renewable Energy Performance Platform
(REPP), to support up to 40 more renewable
energy projects over the next five years. The
new funding could unlock an extra £156
million of private finance into renewable
energy markets in Africa by 2023.
Developers of small-scale solar, wind, hydro
and geothermal projects will be supported
to harness each country’s natural resources,
and the electricity generated is expected to
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provide 2.4 million people a year with new
or improved access to clean energy. Power
produced from new projects is expected to
save around three million tonnes of carbon
over their lifetime, compared with fossil fuel
generation – the equivalent to the emissions
from burning 21,000 railway cars of coal or
from 800,000 cars in a year.
The money will help communities harness
the power of their natural resources to
provide hundreds of thousands of people
with electricity for the first time. Building
these clean, reliable sources of energy will
also create thousands of quality jobs in
these growing green economies.The new
investment is in addition to £48 million
previously committed to the REPP. The
• Hydropower from the Nzoia River in
Kenya, providing 290,000 people with
energy and creating 330 jobs
• Solar power for 70,000 people in Kilosa,
Tanzania, including 6,000 people who will
have access to energy for the first time,
creating 75 jobs
• Mini grids in Nigeria which will provide
72 rural villages with pay-as-you-go
clean, reliable energy, creating 2,500 jobs
during construction and 430 when it’s up
and running
• Biomass plants in Ebolowa and Edea,
Cameroon, providing enough clean
energy for 520,000 people in a rural area
creating 460 jobs
• Solar power to provide electricity for
87,600 people and business in Burundi,
creating 300 part-time jobs and 50-full
times posts
• A hydropower plant creating enough
power for more than 90,000 people
for the first time in a remote part of
Tanzania, creating 80 jobs
The funding is part of the UK’s
commitment to invest £5.8 billion in
international climate finance by 2020 to
encourage ambitious action from other
governments, the private sector and
communities in the global effort to tackle
climate change. n
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