Result-Based Financing for low carbon energy access (RBF)
Information on, and how to apply for, incentive payments within the low-carbon off-grid energy sector.
Overview
RBF offers incentive payments, on the basis of results achieved, to businesses which deliver pre-specified outputs within the low-carbon off-grid energy sector.
Eligibility to apply or access support
The portfolio of products and services mainly includes equipment/appliances (e.g. cook stoves, solar lanterns) and off-grid infrastructure installations (e.g. mini-grids).
Minimum quality standards appropriate to the sectors in question will apply, and will be advertised along with each incentive.
The RBF Facility, implemented through the Energising Development (EnDev) programme (www.endev.info) will operate predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-Asia with incentives being offered over a 4 year period.
Sub-sectors for support are being selected in 3 tranches, the first 2 tranches have a country focus, and are shown in the tables below. The third tranche has a regional/sectoral focus.
| Country | RBF Title | Expected total of incentive amounts (€m) | Products to be marked by participating firms and organisations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benin | Lifting up 3 Offgrid PV market segments to the next level | 2.4 | 361k PV lamps, 72k PV lamps with charger, 7,234 pico SHS, 262 solar pumps |
| Ethiopia | Cooking stoves – RBF to extend supply chains into rural areas | 1.2 | 206k clean cookstoves |
| Rwanda | Sustainable Market Creation for Solar Lighting | 2.5 | 160k task lights, 192k room lights |
| Rwanda | Sustainable Market Creation for Renewable EnergyVillage Grids | 1.3 | 25 pico-hydro mini grids, 10 micro-hydro mini grids |
| Tanzania | Rural Market Development for Solar Pico PV, Lake Zone | 1 | 88k pico PV desk lights, 27k pico PV room light kits |
| Bangladesh | Output-based PicoPV system development | 2.5 | 255k pico PV systems (mix) |
| Vietnam | Creating a Market Driven Biogas Sector | 2.7 | 55,000 biogas digesters |
Second Tranche:
| Country | RBF Title | Expected total of incentive amounts (€m) | Products to be marked by participating firms and organisations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya | Building sustainable and affordable credit lines for small systems in rural areas | 2 | 102k pico PV systems |
| Kenya | Market creation for private sector operated mini-grids | 1.5 | 20 village grids |
| Kenya | Higher Tier Cookstove Market Acceleration project | 1.5 | 100k higher tier cookstoves |
| Nepal | Sustainable Hood-stove Market | 1.1 | 30k hood-stoves |
| Peru | Getting to universal access in thermal energy services in Peru | 1.5 | 24k improved cookstoves 6000 Solar water heaters |
Third tranche:
| Region | Country | RBF Title | Expected total of incentive amounts (€m) | Producers to be marked by participating firms and organisations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam | Market Acceleration of Advanced Clean Cookstoves in the Greater Mekong Sub-region | 2.5 | 120,255 cookstoves |
| Africa | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda | Biogas Business Boost Benefiting Farmers (4B-F) | 2.9 | 21,490 bio digesters |
| Global | Bangladesh, Kenya | Accelerate the uptake of off-grid solar technologies with Results Based Financing | 2.9 | 300,000 appliances |
| Africa | Mozambique, Malawi | Access to modern cooking energy for poor and vulnerable groups in Mozambique and Malawi | 1 | 128,000 cookstoves |
| Africa | Mozambique, Uganda + Sub Saharan Africa | Grid Densification Challenge Fund | 4.1 | 40,000 grid connections |
Participating firms will have to build their own dissemination and marketing channels in the respective countries.
The RBF payment is intended to partly cover the cost of market development. Businesses need to be capable of marketing the specific product/service, as payment is only made on the basis of independently verified sales achieved. No money is paid up front, although contracts are signed in advance. Participants must show that they will be able to be financially sustainable in the long run after the intervention and therefore the products/market must be commercially viable.
RBF funding does not provide funding specifically for capacity building or policy activities, although firms in receipt of the incentives for results achieved are not constrained in how they use that money. Applicants will need to be registered with the appropriate registration body in the developing country they are operating in.
Application process
The application process will be specific to each of the RBFs listed above.
Country-specific participation criteria, conditions and contacts will be advertised nationally and under the section “Ongoing RBF calls” on the EnDev website.
Contacts
EnDev contact – Elina Weber
Updates to this page
Last updated 26 August 2014 + show all updates
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call for applications date amended from December 2013 to February 2014.
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Updated page with information on first tranche of support
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First published.