UK Government approves funds for renewables in Africa

11 December 2018


Developers of small-scale hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal projects across Africa are to benefit from £100 million in extra funding to the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) from the UK government.

The extra funding, which triples funds for the REPP, was announced during COP24 in Poland, and is expected to support up to 40 more renewable energy projects over the next five years.

 “At home we’re world leaders in cutting emissions while growing our economy and abroad we’re showing our international leadership by giving countries a helping hand to shift to greener, cleaner economies,” said the UK’s Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry. “This £100 million 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 from the UK Government. The programme is already supporting 18 renewable energy projects in a range of countries from Tanzania to Burundi. Expected results from some of the 18 projects already receiving support from REPP are:

  • 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 for 6,000 people who will have access to energy for the first time, creating 75 jobs in total;
  • 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 in total.

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.

 

 



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