eCooking Demonstrators

 CLASP is the leading global authority on efficient appliances’ role in fighting climate change and improving people’s lives. We are an international non-profit and an implementing partner of the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme. Together with the UK’s Energy Saving Trust, we jointly co-ordinate Efficiency for Access.

Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) is an eleven-year research programme funded by UK Aid (FCDO). 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.

In seeking to spark a new approach to clean cooking, the MECS programme researches the socio-economic realities of a transition from polluting fuels to a range of modern fuels. Whilst the research covers several clean fuels, the evidence is pointing to the viability, cost effectiveness, and user satisfaction that energy efficient electric cooking devices provide. Significant progress has been made in access to electricity in the last decade, but these gains are sometimes disconnected from the enduring problem of clean cooking. By integrating modern energy cooking services into the planning for electricity access, quality, reliability and sustainability, MECS hopes to leverage investment in renewable energies (both grid and off-grid) to address the clean cooking challenge.

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition working to promote high-performing appliances to boost incomes, reduce carbon emissions, improve quality of life and support sustainable development. The Low Energy Inclusive Appliances (LEIA) programme is Efficiency for Access’ flagship initiative. LEIA is funded by UK aid, via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform and the IKEA Foundation. Transforming Energy Access (TEA) is a research and innovation platform supporting the technologies, business models and skills needed to enable an inclusive clean energy transition.

CLASP, through the MECS programme, invites proposals for the Domestic, Commercial and Institutional eCooking Demonstrator Project, a strategic initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of eCooking for institutional (such as schools, health facilities, correctional facilities) and commercial (e.g. medium, small- and micro-enterprises (MSMEs), eateries, food vendors, agro-processing) settings, as well as households. These demonstrators will serve as learning and awareness centers for eCooking while generating real-world data on energy usage, CO₂ reductions, air quality improvements, and user behavior to create a scalable model for mass eCooking transitions and support progress towards achievement of SDGs.

Grants are intended to support initiatives that: 

1. Establish institutional eCooking demonstrators: deploy cookstoves equipped with smart meters for institutions (school or health centers) to serve as demonstration kitchens and replicable models for clean, modern, and energy efficient institutional kitchens. These will also serve to showcase the feasibility, benefits and impacts of electric cooking, provide data and insights into usability of eCooking solutions, and enhance the reliability, impact, and operational efficiency of school feeding programs.

2. Establish commercial eCooking demonstrators: deploy cookstoves equipped with smart meters suitable for the scale and needs of commercial settings/MSMEs. This aims to test and validate innovative business models for deploying commercial eCooking solutions, demonstrate operational sustainability, collect real-world data on energy usage and CO₂ reductions, and build case studies to attract commercial investors. These models may include, but are not limited to, lease-to-own models, energy as a service, pay-as-you-cook, and up-front ownership among others.

3. Contribute to evidence on: o The challenges and impacts of eCooking for households/domestic settings including usage patterns, air quality & health, business models, repair and after-sales models, among others.

•  The viability and effectiveness of various business models for eCooking solutions in institutional and commercial settings.
•  The social-economic benefits of eCooking including improvements in income, productivity, health and quality of life.
•  The benefits of capacity-building and matchmaking support in facilitating the adoption of commercial, domestic, and institutional eCooking.

Applicants are encouraged to design projects that not only contribute to their organizational growth, but also generate public goods – such as lessons learned, data, and use cases – that serve as demonstrator projects for successful and scalable approaches to deploying eCooking at scale.

Technologies included in this eCooking Demonstrator Project include:

1. eCooking solutions suitable for institutional cooking applications in schools and/or health centers of varying sizes and cooking needs.
2.  eCooking solutions that address the needs of medium, small, and micro enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in various forms of cooking, food vending, and agro-processing or value addition through an integrated, modular, and scalable design.
3. Household eCooking appliances including electric pressure cookers (EPCs) and induction cookers (ICs).

Technologies may include e-boilers, induction cookers, electric pressure cookers (EPCs), electric fryers, electric blanching stoves, electric pans, etc., and must be IoT-enabled or compatible with an external IOT device for remote monitoring. All products that have not been tested under the VeraSol framework, IEC 60335-2-47, IEC 60335-2-39 and/or IEC 60335-2-42 will have to undergo testing under the Rapid Product Assessment protocol before deployment in any of the listed geographies.

Applicants must meet the following criteria to be considered for the eCooking Demonstrator grants:

• Type of Organization: Registered eCooking ventures developing or distributing electric cooking appliances and operating in, or planning to operate in, the target markets

Operational Focus: Applicants should be looking to conduct targeted testing and validation of their eCooking technologies, business models, and/or market segments.

• Geographic location: Projects must be implemented within the target markets by entities that are legally registered in these jurisdictions. To qualify, applicants must meet the following criteria:

o Ownership: The applying entity must be majority locally owned, defined as having more than 50% of its shares held by target-country nationals or target-country-owned organizations.

o Leadership: The executive leadership team (e.g., CEO, Managing Director) must have a majority (over 50%) representation of target-country nationals. Foreign-owned or foreign-led subsidiaries are not eligible to apply as lead applicants. However, they may participate as technical or financial partners only under the leadership of an eligible locally led entity.

• Project completion timeline: All proposed activities must be completed by November 2026.

• In-kind contribution: While monetary co-financing is not mandatory, applicants are required to demonstrate an in-kind contribution. This may include: o Provision of labor or volunteer time

o Use of existing equipment or facilities

o Other non-monetary resources that support project implementation

• Inclusivity commitment: Applicants must show a commitment to inclusivity by:

o Promoting gender balance within project activities

o Considering the needs of persons with disabilities.

Projects that explicitly address gender and disability inclusion will receive additional consideration during the evaluation process.

• Commitment to learning and engagement: Applicants must be prepared to: o Document and share lessons learned, data, and use-cases.

o Participate in knowledge-sharing activities such as workshops, webinars, and focus groups, to share project insights and outcomes.

o Host visits from CLASP team members and partners for monitoring, learning, and documentation purposes.

• Partnerships are strongly encouraged. Consortium applications will be considered, but the lead applicant must be an eCooking venture as previously described.

The application is a two-stage process. Interested applicants should review the details in entirety before responding to the RFP.

Stage 1 – Review and complete the CLASP Venture Readiness Assessment. Only shortlisted applicants will be invited to proceed to Stage 2 and submit a proposal for the eCooking Demonstrator as per the guidelines outlined in this RFP. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We aim to provide feedback within 14 days.

Stage 2 – Shortlisted applicants will have up to a month to develop and submit a proposal. The proposal (max 5 pages) will need to include general information about the project, implementation plan, target users, M&E plan, sustainability and team. This will be accompanied by a separate proposal budget. Further instructions will be provided directly to shortlisted applicants.