On August 23 and 24, CLASP’s India team will lead two sessions at the 2023 South Asia Forum for Distributed Energy (SAFDE), organized by GOGLA in New Delhi, India. This event will highlight the distributed energy community’s efforts to chart a business-driven route to improved energy access for households and the way forward to enhance the Productive Use of Energy (PURE) for improved livelihoods.

India’s substantial endeavors in electrification have resulted in ensuring widespread electricity accessibility across the nation – today the country is 100% electrified. The Government of India is now looking at enabling access to reliable power 24/7 across India through multiple initiatives.

To address the ‘weak grid’ challenge, GOGLA and CLASP are holding a focused discussion on ‘Plugging the Gap: Partnerships and Innovations for the Weak Grid’ on August 23. The session will include panelists from the Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) industry, electricity distribution companies, financing and technology experts.

India is one of the largest producers of agriculture and horticulture products – the largest producer of milk, and the second largest producer of fruits, vegetables, and fish. While reaching record horticulture output in 2020-21, it wasted 30% of produced food in the same year. The lack of cold chain facilities for food storage contributed largely to agricultural losses. Post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables in FY 2021-22 amounted to 10 million metric tons and INR 60,000 crores (USD 7.2 billion), impacting farmers’ incomes and greenhouse gas emissions.

To enhance access to cold chain facilities, the Indian government launched multiple schemes to enable investments in cold chain infrastructure. In partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Limited, and cKinetics as the knowledge partner, CLASP will be co-hosting a session on investment prospects in the cold chain sector for the future of India’s agriculture. The session will bring together financial institutions and demand aggregators, uncovering short and long-term opportunities that minimize the gaps between farmers and cold chain facilities.

CLASP at SAFDE2023:

23 August 2023 | 15:00 PM – 16:00 PM | Plugging the Gap: Partnerships and Innovations for the Weak Grid

24 August 2023 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Investment Opportunities for Affordable and Efficient Agriculture Cold Chain

To register for SAFDE 2023, please log on here.

India’s agricultural sector faces two significant challenges: the impact of climate change and a rapidly growing population. As the demand for food increases, so will the need for efficient and robust cold chain and food logistics infrastructure. To bridge the gap between farmers and markets, the country needs substantial investments, a reliable power supply and an energy-efficient cold chain infrastructure.

In collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB), National Centre for Cold Chain Development, and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), CLASP co-hosted an event to explore the opportunities and challenges in transitioning towards low-carbon and energy-efficient cold chains.

BEE’s Director, Arijit Sengupta highlighted the importance of the energy sector for agriculture and livelihoods. Sengupta also shared that BEE is working to advance energy efficiency policy options for cold chain components such as compressors, walk in cold rooms and cold storage.

CLASP Senior Director, Bishal Thapa, moderated a discussion that emphasized the need to make the next wave of cold chain infrastructure energy efficient and sustainable. The consensus was that sustainable cold chain solutions and services must be accessible and affordable even to the smallest farms in India.

CLASP’s P. K. Mukherjee reinforced the need to have specific standards for cold chain equipment as a prerequisite to develop impactful energy efficiency policies for the sector. He also highlighted the existence of post-harvest horticulture guidelines and the need to ensure these are adopted by farmers.

CLASP’s Kishore Kumar featured in a discussion on the Super-Efficient Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative of CEM. Kishore highlighted the progress being made towards doubling the efficiency of four priority products by 2030 – air conditioners, refrigerators, industrial motor systems, and lighting. This initiative is essential in the context of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), where many countries are finding it challenging to meet their climate goals. By promoting super-efficient appliances, countries can significantly reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to global climate action.

On the last day of CEM,, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) hosted a side event which included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with CLASP on adoption of 10 million energy-efficient fans in India. CLASP will provide technical assistance and capacity building support to EESL on Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) framework of fans program.

A key takeaway from CEM14 is that transitioning towards low-carbon and energy-efficient cold chain infrastructure is not just an opportunity but an imperative for India. Climate change poses significant challenges for India’s food storage and distribution, and it requires urgent action.

Watch all session recordings here.

18 Small and medium-sized companies selling productive use appliances (PUAs) were selected by the Productive Use Financing Facility to receive procurement subsidies and capacity-building grants.

PUAs are energy-efficient, income-generating appliances like refrigerators, walk-in cold rooms, electric cookers, solar water pumps and milling machines. Despite their transformative potential for local communities, small businesses and the environment, PUA sales are extremely low in emerging markets due to affordability and access to finance.

CLASP and Nithio want to change this. They set up the Facility, with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), to make PUAs more affordable to consumers and companies. In this funding round, CLASP received over 80 applications from companies across Central, East and West Africa, representing a range of PUA technologies. Solar water pumps were the most common technology, followed by refrigerators and fans.

Subsidies with a transformative impact

The 18 companies selected will use their funding to sell a combined amount of 12,135 PUAs that will introduce life-changing productive use technology to over 500,000 people. The successful companies target both households and small businesses, with the PUA providing a transformative community-level impact by enabling customers to generate more income, save time, and improve their quality of life.

 “We are excited to support such a wide range of early movers and leaders in the productive use market,” commented Jeff Sottlemyer, CLASP program lead for the Facility. “We look forward to seeing the impact of this support on the lives of their customers and the communities they live and work in.”

Many applicants laid out strategies to specifically market appliances to women, showcasing the sector’s recognition of equitable uptake of PUA. BrightLife, a Ugandan refrigerator distributor, incentivizes sales agents to reach targets of at least 50% women shop owners and farmers for sales of refrigeration products. The companies also have a strong representation of women on their payroll. For example, women comprise more than 70% of the Ugandan-based and owned company POPO Africa’s workforce, while ALLTIMEFRESH in Nigeria is owned and predominately run by women.

“We anticipate the Facility will help early movers reduce unit costs, improving access to affordable, high-quality appliances,” noted Makena Ireri, Director at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet “Unit cost reduction is a necessary step in demonstrating commercially sustainable PUA businesses that can attract private investment and propel market growth.”

The goal of the Productive Use Financing Facility is to support companies with the potential to scale quickly, and this round prioritized companies that are ready to sell. Already sales are underway at many of these companies, with the others expected to commence within the next month.

Following a rigorous evaluation, CLASP selected the following 18 companies:

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About The Productive Use Financing Facility

CLASP’s Productive Use Financing Facility, is supported by The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).

Deep freezers are refrigerating appliances in which food products are frozen to increase shelf life. Deep freezers constitute a significant market share in the refrigeration segment after household refrigerators. These appliances are adopted in retail, hospitality, and residential sectors. The growing use of deep freezers is expected to increase the refrigeration load, and thus energy consumption in India. Recognizing an expected growth, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), developed the efficiency policy for chest-type deep freezers and announced the voluntary program in March 2020.

Given the massive opportunity for potential Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reductions and energy consumption from deep freezers, BEE now aims to make the labelling program mandatory to comply with the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP). CLASP, with support from PwC India, is providing technical assistance to BEE in transitioning the efficiency policy for deep freezers to a mandatory stage. The team reached out to key industry players to estimate the current market size of deep freezers in India, the state of energy performance of the appliances available in the country and the extent of voluntary label penetration. The structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews provided the following insights:

1. Current market size for chest-type deep freezers for FY 20-21 is ~5.5 lakhs as reported by manufacturers, out of which ~ 3 lakh units are imported
2. The market size for chest-type deep freezers is envisaged to grow at 12% for the next 5 years and is expected to reach 9.4 lakhs by FY 2025-26
3. Capacity ranges of more than 300L constitute 81% of market share
4. Primary data received from leading manufacturersindicate an availability of 94 models with 62 hard-top and 32 glass-top models respectively
5. 2 manufacturers have registered their models under the voluntary phase with BEE
6. Out of 94 models submitted by manufacturers, 25 models are registered in the voluntary phase (<30% penetration for registration of models in voluntary phase with BEE)
7. As per NABL, 3 manufacturers and 3 test labs have accredited test facilities as per IS 7872:2020

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has proposed to make the chest-type deep freezer labeling program mandatory from 01 July, 2023, with a star rating table validity period of 2 years until 30 June 2025.

A cumulative savings of ~14.9 TWh and ~11.7 MtCO2 is estimated (by FY 2030) from the mandatory labeling program of deep freezers.

On 14 June,  Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry officially launched the National Cooling Action Plan for Kenya (NCAP). Since 2018, CLASP has worked closely with government agencies and key stakeholders to develop the Plan that will guide sustainable cooling solutions in the country through 2027.

Growing Demand for Cooling in Kenya

As temperatures rise, cooling technologies are needed to support resilient food supply chains and keep society healthy and productive. However, these same technologies are highly energy-intensive and can contribute to significant carbon emissions. With a strong focus on aligning with Kenya’s climate commitments, the National Cooling Action Plan (NCAP) sets out to play a crucial role in achieving the nation’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target of at least 32% by 2030, as outlined in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).  

In Kenya, only 12.8% of households currently own a refrigerator, while 15% of residential and 30% of commercial buildings employ air conditioning. However, these numbers are expected to rise with the expansion of the national grid, economic growth and increasing average temperatures. The NCAP will provide a concrete approach to address growing cooling demand, without exacerbating strain on the national grid or further contributing to climate change.

Promoting Environmentally Friendly Cooling Solutions

Speaking at the launch event organized by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Engineer Festus Ng’eno, the Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate, emphasized the objectives of the NCAP:

“With the implementation of this Plan, we are setting a course towards a more efficient, environmentally friendly, and inclusive refrigeration and air-conditioning sector in Kenya.”

The NCAP aims to expand access to sustainable cooling by focusing on key areas:

1. Enhancing the performance and efficiency of energy-consuming cooling appliances;
2. Transitioning the cooling sector to refrigerants with minimal environmental impact;
3. Increasing access to energy-efficient cooling solutions with a low environmental footprint; and

Improving access to agricultural cold chains to support a resilient agricultural sector and reduce food waste.

Kenya’s National Cooling Action Plan represents a significant step towards addressing the country’s growing demand for sustainable cooling. By promoting energy efficiency, eco-friendly refrigerants, and improved access to cooling services, the NCAP aims to create a more inclusive and environmentally-conscious refrigeration and air-conditioning sector.

The development of the NCAP is led by Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, supported by the Department of Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs), the Government of Germany through the Green Cooling Initiative II, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and CLASP.

Energy-efficient off-grid appliances are crucial in addressing climate change and promoting resilience and adaptation, particularly for rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. These communities often face the brunt of weather-related disasters and have limited access to resources and infrastructure for coping.

To tackle this challenge, CLASP through Efficiency for Access commissioned Rural Senses to gather insights from the community in Siaya County, Kenya. The objective was to understand their perceptions of climate change challenges and identify pathways to enhance resilience. The study also delved into the role of seven off-grid solar products and equipment, such as electric pressure cookers, fans, motorbikes, refrigerators, televisions, water pumps, grain mills, and solar PV systems, in building resilience.

Read the full report to learn more about the community’s primary concerns regarding climate events, existing barriers to resilience-building, the potential of off-grid appliances, and suggested pathways for fostering resilience.

Download the Building Resilience in Low-Income Communities – The Role of Off-Grid Appliances report.

About Efficiency for Access

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote renewable and energy efficient appliances to deliver clean energy to the world’s poorest people. It is coordinated jointly by CLASP and the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.

Appliance markets in their early stages face a daunting challenge: the lack of information on how their products are used in specific real-world applications. To address this problem, CLASP through Efficiency for Access partnered with various partners to conduct field testing on three solar-powered appliances: milking machines, refrigerators, and water pumps.

The results of these field tests have yielded valuable user-centric insights for each appliance, which have been compiled into reports. These reports are designed to benefit manufacturers, distributors, and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of improving user satisfaction and enabling laboratory testing to reflect real-world conditions more accurately.

Download the Evaluating Appliance Performance in the Field: Results from Appliance Testing reports.

About Efficiency for Access

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote renewable and energy efficient appliances to deliver clean energy to the world’s poorest people. It is coordinated jointly by CLASP and the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.

Nairobi, Kenya, 12 April 2023 – Access to productive use appliances can deliver significant economic, health, education, and quality of life benefits for the approximately 600 million people across the African continent who lack access to electricity. This can also put under-electrified parts of the world on a low-carbon pathway to electrification. However, affordability remains a major barrier to access and scale. The Productive Use Financing Facility aims to help address the affordability barrier, and the current auction window will make procurement subsidies available for companies in six African countries.

Makena Ireri, Director at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, said, “The Facility will help make high-quality, productive use appliances more affordable and accessible. These technologies can transform lives and livelihoods by helping to create new green energy-enabled jobs, enhance income generation for micro-enterprises and smallholder farmers, and improve the sustainability of renewable energy infrastructure projects through increased demand for electricity.” 

The Facility’s initial scope includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda based on growth potential and market maturity. Eligible technologies include electric pressure cookers, fans, milling, solar water pumps, refrigerators/freezers, and walk-in cold storage. All technologies must complete quality assurance testing, helping to ensure that users receive high-quality products.

Eligible distributors can also apply for capacity-building small grants to offset one-off costs associated with nascent PUA business lines, such as warehouse space, staffing, or training. The procurement subsidies and capacity-building grants will allow eligible companies to lower costs for customers while investing in long-term growth. Participating companies may also agree for the Facility to share their information with Nithio, should they wish to be considered for debt investment to help them further scale their business and reach more consumers.

Interested companies should send in their applications by the end of day on April 21, 2023. Please check out these resources to learn more about the program, including eligibility requirements of the procurement subsidy auction window and how to submit a subsidy request. For any other questions, please get in touch with financing@clasp.ngo.

About the Facility

Launched in October 2022 by CLASP and Nithio, with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), the Facility supports companies in catalyzing the growth of productive use appliance markets. Facility operations will also generate a foundational data set on appliance market activity and the developmental impacts of appliances, improving our collective knowledge base on appliance performance, national markets, and consumer experience and satisfaction.

Companies can leverage the Facility to access bulk discounts on solar appliance procurement and offer products on credit to lower the cost of appliances for end-user. The Facility also provides smaller capacity-building grants and advisory support for PUA distributors to help establish credit systems and increase their investment readiness.

Facility support is intended to help companies expand their reach and cater to a broader market, helping to deliver essential technologies to more consumers in East and West Africa.

About CLASP

CLASP focuses on appliance & equipment energy performance and quality, to mitigate and adapt to climate change and expand access to clean energy. Super-efficient and high-quality appliances accelerate access to and use of renewable energy for the world’s poorest people. CLASP supports progress on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7, affordable and sustainable energy for all. Renewable energy services like cooling, communications, and mechanization empower low-income communities and improve lives in a climate-friendly way. CLASP works globally and has teams in Washington, DC; Nairobi, Kenya; New Delhi, India; Brussels, Belgium; and Jakarta, Indonesia.

About Nithio

Nithio is an energy financing platform powered by its innovative credit risk analytics engine. Nithio leverages its deep sector expertise, geospatial data, and artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast repayment patterns by consumer segment, provide detailed insight on projected cash flows, and finance energy access technologies.

About the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP)

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is an alliance of local entrepreneurs, governments in emerging and developed economies, and technology, policy, and financing partners. Our common mission is to support developing countries’ shift to a clean energy, pro-growth model that ensures universal energy access and unlocks a new era of inclusive economic growth, while enabling the global community to meet critical climate goals during the next decade. In doing so, as an Alliance we aim to enable 150 million new jobs, reduce 4 gigatons of future carbon emissions, and expand clean energy access to one billion people. With philanthropic partners, Bezos Earth Fund, IKEA Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation, GEAPP works to build the enabling environment, capacity, and market conditions for private sector solutions, catalyze new business models through innovation and entrepreneurship, and deploy high-risk capital to encourage private sector solutions, and assist just transition solutions. For more information, please visit www.energyalliance.org and follow us on Twitter at @EnergyAlliance.

Media Contact

Lisa Kahuthu, CLASP: lkahuthu@clasp.ngo

In sub-Saharan Africa, 95% of farmers primarily rely on rainfall for irrigation but climate change threatens crop yields & livelihoods. Solar-powered irrigation systems are a key solution – yet uptake is low. To develop and discuss how we could make progress, CLASP hosted a workshop in June 2022 with participants that included manufacturers, distributors, financiers, program implementors, and government officials.

This report identifies barriers in four categories, technology developing & innovation, affordability & financing, consumer awareness, and business & operational models, and suggests solutions for each one. These possible next steps will inform the Kenya Productive Use of Renewable Energy Program’s strategy to supporting smallholder farmers across the country.

Solutions included:

• Prioritize development of irrigation solutions that are high-performing, low-cost, require low maintenance, and can work under low solar irradiance.
• Bundle financing solutions for SWPs with other irrigation equipment, such as drip irrigation kits, water harvesting & storage structures.
• Create centers of excellence/demonstration centers for experiential learning targeting smallholder farmers, including village-based champion farmers who can serve as ambassadors and trainers for fellow smallholder farmers.
• Leverage the existing network of local technical installers by building their capacity through training and certification to build a healthy installation and aftersales support ecosystem.

With ever-changing global climatic conditions and growing demand for sustainable food production, cold chain technologies are critical for improving food security, reducing food waste, enhancing farmers’ livelihoods, and supporting adaptation to climate change. These technologies enable the safe and efficient transport, storage, and distribution of perishable goods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, fish, and meat.

In this series of reports, CLASP through Efficiency for Access examines the fresh food value chains of India, Kenya, and Nigeria, three countries that are rapidly growing their access to energy and have a high potential demand for cold chain infrastructure (CCI). By using a combination of secondary research, modeling, and stakeholder consultations, CLASP through Efficiency for Access assesses the current state of cold chain infrastructure and identifies the gaps between the infrastructure that is currently deployed and what is necessary to meet these value chains’ needs by 2030.

The reports provide detailed country-specific insights on:

• existing CCI for the fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, fish and meat value chains
• drivers and barriers for CCI uptake
• existing business and ownership models
• CCI policies and regulations
• proposed interventions for accelerated adoption of CCI technologies

By leveraging these insights, policymakers, investors, and other stakeholders can take concrete steps to improve food access, reduce carbon emissions, and promote sustainable development in these countries and beyond.

Download the Key Cold Chain Infrastructure Markets reports to learn more.

About Efficiency for Access

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote renewable and energy efficient appliances to deliver clean energy to the world’s poorest people. It is coordinated jointly by CLASP and the UK’s Energy Saving Trust.