The Missing Piece of Energy Access: Why 15% of Energy Infrastructure Investment Must Go to Appliances
CLASP’s research makes the case that efficient appliances need to be prioritized alongside energy infrastructure expansions to bring electricity to the 666 million people who still need it.
Globally, hundreds of millions of people lack electricity. Most solutions focus on extending power supply infrastructure, but in marginalized areas, low electricity demand makes the expense of such infrastructure hard to justify. Increasing the use of energy-efficient appliances in these areas can attract electricity supply investments while delivering climate benefits. Achieving sufficient levels of appliance use to meet these goals would require allocating 15% of supply-side investments, or $38 billion USD, toward demand growth between now and 2030. The funding should focus largely on improving appliance affordability.
Key Findings
- Energy-efficient appliances are essential energy infrastructure, critical for achieving universal energy access and meeting climate mitigation and adaptation goals.
- Bringing modern energy to the 666 million people who lack it (most of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa) requires expanding power infrastructure to places with low electricity consumption.
- Increasing appliance access across Africa could generate demand for 342 terawatt hours of electricity annually, creating a market worth approximately $50 billion USD that would catalyze accelerated power infrastructure development.
- Focusing on expanding markets for energy-efficient appliances (as opposed to standard, less-efficient appliances) would provide many benefits, including avoiding an estimated 2.6 gigatons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually.
Recommendations
- The IEA estimates that at least $50 billion USD of public investment annually is needed until 2030 to achieve universal energy access. CLASP analysis shows that 10–15% of this amount—about $7.5 billion USD annually, or $38 billion USD in total—should be devoted to improving appliance access.
- Relevant decisionmakers should allocate 10–15% of power supply-side investments toward establishing sustainable electricity demand growth.
- Public institutions should target investments to overcoming market failures that limit appliance use—in particular, a lack of affordability and consumer confidence.
- All stakeholders should prioritize energy-efficient appliances over standard, less-efficient appliances.
