For many households in India, a ceiling fan can turn a space from unbearable to livable, enabling productivity, schoolwork, comfort, and health. With total stock projected to reach 1 billion by 2038, improving fan efficiency represents a major opportunity to cut energy demand. At the beginning of this project, fans accounted for about 40% of residential electricity consumption.

In 2023, CLASP supported India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency to improve the energy efficiency policy for ceiling fans. The policy enacted a huge shift in the market, making formerly 5-star labeled fans (most efficient) now 1-star (least efficient), and raising the baseline efficiency by over 25%.

Meeting these standards, however, was challenging for medium and small enterprise (MSME) manufacturers, which produced roughly 40% to 50% of fans. Without support, these manufacturers risked losing their market share, which would lead to job losses, a weakened domestic supply chain, and, subsequently, over-reliance on imports to meet cooling demand in India.

To prevent this, CLASP worked closely with MSMEs to build their capacity to produce more efficient fans and participate in functions of the policy program, including testing, certification, and technical committees. MSMEs now have a seat at the table in the policy process, further edifying domestic businesses and contributing to long-term policy durability.

CLASP also partnered with Energy Efficient Services Limited, a state-owned energy service company, to develop a bulk procurement initiative for super-efficient fans. The initiative sought to drive down the cost of 5-star, or most efficient, ceiling fans through economies of scale, ensuring they were more available and affordable to a wider range of consumers.

Nairobi, Kenya, 27 March 2026 – Today, at the Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO) in Nairobi, the Government of Makueni County and CLASP, as a co-implementer of Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate clean cooking transitions across public institutions in Makueni County. The ceremony was witnessed by H.E. Prof. Kithure Kindiki, EGH, Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya. The signing coincides with the launch of Kenya’s first Institutional Clean Cooking Sector Pack, which identifies a KES 72 billion ($559M) investment opportunity to transition over 100,000 institutions serving 12.6 million people to modern clean cooking solutions—framing institutional clean cooking not as a development challenge, but as a compelling, bankable investment opportunity.

A partnership rooted in national commitment and investment ambition

Despite Kenya’s remarkable strides in electricity access—from 20% to 75% of the population in the last decade—clean cooking remains one of the last major frontiers of the energy transition. Many in Kenya still rely on traditional fuels, such as charcoal and firewood, which contribute to deforestation, generate harmful indoor air pollution, and divert billions of shillings annually from institutions and households toward inefficient fuel expenditure. Kenya’s National Cooking Transition Strategy (KNCTS 2024–2028) sets a clear national target of universal access to clean cooking by 2030, operationalizing the National Energy Policy and mobilizing government, private sector, and development partners toward a coordinated, multi-fuel transition. This partnership between the Government of Makueni County and CLASP takes a major step in translating the national framework into county-level action, with a clear investment case to match.

Nyamolo Abagi, Director of Clean Energy Access at CLASP and CLASP/MECS programme lead, emphasizes the impact this partnership will have on lives and livelihoods: “Through the MECS programme, we have spent years building the evidence base and market infrastructure to make clean cooking a real, affordable choice for institutions, households, and commercial settings across the Global South. But this is also, urgently, a story about dignity — about the cooks in institutional kitchens who feed school children and the sick every day, while enduring some of the highest levels of heat stress and indoor air pollution of any workforce on the continent. They deserve better, and better is now within reach.”

Unlocking the institutional cooking opportunity

While global clean cooking efforts have largely focused on households, institutional kitchens represent an equally critical and significantly underserved opportunity. Across sub-Saharan Africa, more than 620,000 schools, nearly 100,000 healthcare facilities, and hundreds of thousands of correctional and vocational training centers prepare meals daily for millions of people, with over 85% still relying on firewood or charcoal. In Kenya alone, there are over 97,000 educational institutions, more than 13,000 healthcare facilities, and over 130 correctional facilities; more than 90% still use biomass for cooking.

Kenya’s newly launched Institutional Clean Cooking Sector Pack — developed by the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change (OSECC) in partnership with InvestKenya, with contributions from the Government of Makueni County, CLASP/MECS, and other partners — quantifies this as a KES 72 billion ($559M) investment opportunity and provides the market intelligence to make it bankable.

Over the next five years, CLASP and the Government of Makueni County will jointly identify and prioritize public institutions and communities for electric cooking transitions, working with a growing ecosystem of Kenya-based clean cooking suppliers. Pilot interventions at vocational training centers will draw on innovative local companies, including Ecobora and Feion Green Ventures, two Kenya-based manufacturers supported through the MECS programme, to demonstrate that affordable, high-quality clean cooking solutions are available and ready to scale. The aim is to build a replicable, financially sustainable model that can attract private capital and be replicated across Kenya’s 47 counties to demonstrate that affordable, high-quality clean cooking solutions are available and ready to scale.

Nyamolo Abagi highlights the opportunity this partnership poses: “What makes this partnership with Makueni County so compelling is that all the ingredients are already here: a county government with the will to act, innovative local manufacturers ready to deliver, and a sector pack that turns a long-standing development challenge into a credible investment opportunity. CLASP’s role is to connect those pieces — and to ensure that the communities and institutions we serve are co-creators of the solutions, not just recipients. Makueni is where we prove the model.”

Governor of Makueni County, H.E. Mutula Kilonzo Junior says of the partnership: “Makueni is open for investment — and clean cooking is one of the most compelling opportunities on the table. Our county has already committed KES 157 million to solar energy, launched our County Energy Plan (2023 – 2032), Energy Policy 2025, and piloted clean cooking in our institutions. We know what is possible when the right partners show up. This partnership with MECS and CLASP is about turning that commitment into scale —reducing the fuel costs that drain our institutions, creating skilled jobs for our young people in the clean energy sector.”

A call to investors and partners 

Today’s MOU signing is a signal of implementation intent, but unlocking Kenya’s KES 72 billion institutional clean cooking opportunity at scale will require blended finance approaches that combine public funding, private capital, concessional finance, and carbon markets. CLASP, the Government of Makueni County, and the MECS programme invite investors, development partners, local financial institutions, and technology providers to engage with the Institutional Clean Cooking Sector Pack and explore how their capital and expertise can accelerate this transition.

About Modern Energy Cooking Services programme

Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) is an eleven-year programme funded by UK aid via the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. MECS is a geographically diverse, multicultural and transdisciplinary team working in close partnership with NGOs, governments, private sector, academia and research institutes, policy representatives and communities in 16 countries of interest to accelerate a transition from biomass to genuinely ‘clean’ cooking. CLASP is a core partner of the MECS programme alongside Loughborough University and ESMAP.

About CLASP

CLASP is the leading global authority on efficient appliances’ role in fighting climate change and improving people’s lives. With 25 years of expertise and offices on four continents, CLASP collaborates with policymakers, industry leaders, and other experts to deliver clear pathways to a more sustainable world for people and the planet.

Energy-efficient motor systems could play a key role in driving economic growth and climate progress in Nigeria–a country that strives to reach net zero by 2060 and lift 100 million of its citizens out of poverty. While motor systems pose a significant challenge, through strategic partnerships and committed action, they also offer a significant opportunity for profound change for millions.

Motor systems are essential to most automated processes and are key to the world’s manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and industrial sectors. However, motor systems have a significant emissions impact: today, they account for 27% of global industrial electricity demand. Much of this demand is linked to the fact that low-efficiency, outdated motor systems represent two-thirds of the global motor stock.

In Nigeria, the industrial sector accounts for approximately 22% of electricity consumption. Motors were estimated to consume 83 TWh in 2025—equivalent to annual energy consumption in Belgium.

Energy-efficient motor systems could deliver significant economic development without losing sight of the country’s climate goals, reaching net zero by 2060, and lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Energy-efficient motor systems can lower national electricity demand and reduce the need for costly generation, transmission, and distribution investments. When governments and utilities are able to avoid these expenses, that capital becomes available for industry, education, healthcare, and infrastructure, which ultimately helps to drive GDP growth. At a local level, efficient motors can also reduce operational costs for small businesses and smallholder farms. Lower costs translate to improved profitability and could enable job creation in these local settings.

CLASP is currently supporting the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to develop energy-efficiency standards for industrial motor systems. Setting up efficiency policy for motor systems in Nigeria could have significant benefits, including reducing energy use by 300 TWh from 2025 through 2050, avoiding 130 Mt of CO2—the equivalent of Nigeria’s annual CO2 emissions—and saving $3 billion USD through 2050.

John Bature of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria reflected on the partnership, stating:

The ongoing CLASP-supported project has reignited the drive to achieve industrial energy efficiency in Nigeria. The initiative [to develop standards] addresses the identified energy waste arising from the use of obsolete motors across the Nigerian industrial sector. The project will undoubtedly deliver significant climate and economic benefits for Nigeria.

CLASP and SON are also collaborating with the Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADEV) Nigeria and Eng. Achema, two local Nigerian partners who are supporting data collection and analysis, stakeholder engagement, and technical guidance. Jeremiah Ato from SRADEV underscores the importance of this collaboration: “A robust market assessment is foundational to developing efficiency policies for industrial motors in Nigeria.”

Tom Ramsson, CLASP’s technical advisor on motors and industrial products, and Angellah Wekongo, manager, co-led the project with partners at SRADEV and SON. Wekongo views the collaboration as a significant step towards a greener future: “CLASP is supporting the Standards Organization of Nigeria on the first step in their journey to unlock motor system efficiency. We look forward to continuing our collaboration on motor-driven applications like pumps, fans, and air compressors to help Nigerian industry prepare for a low-carbon future.”

Energy-efficient motor systems offer a massive untapped opportunity for people and the planet. Efficient motor systems can deliver significant energy savings and reduce strain on the grid, redirecting electricity and investment to other sectors. Alongside powering economic growth, efficient motors also have major environmental benefits.