Ongoing Projects

Bangladesh Coastal Women's Electrification Project- Women in Business for Energy

In 1999, ESMAP initiated a $175,000 project in Char Montaz, Bangladesh, offering an “Opportunity for Women in Renewable Energy Technology Use.” With technical assistance offered by Prokaushali Sangsad Ltd, and social mobilisation and micro-credit provided by South Asia Partnership, 32 women received energy technology training. They then formed the Coastal Women’s Electrification and Development Microenterprise which has grown into a medium sized enterprise with 117 employees. Read More>

Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security(PISCES)

photo: Practical Action/Rein Skinner

Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security (PISCES) is the new 5-year DFID Energy Research Programme Consortium (RPC) that is aimed at contributing to innovation and providing new policy-relevant knowledge in the energy sector - leading to better practice and ultimately impacts helping the poor in Kenya, Tanzania, South India and Sri Lanka. Read More>

CEDESOL to incorporate 20,000 integrated cooking systems into the Bolivian culture by mid-2009- Bolivia

CEDESOL is one of only five organizations worldwide selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to receive a grant as part of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by reducing exposure to indoor air from household energy use in developing countries. CEDESOL will scale-up the production of its ecological cookers (solar and retained heat cookers, and efficient rocket stoves with chimneys) to incorporate 20,000 integrated cooking systems into the Bolivian culture by mid-2009. Read More>

SDI Cameroon

SDI is a concerted effort of a cream of global youths from Germany, India, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Cameroon. Their main objective is to promote and enhance social protection and sustainable development in Cameroon and, the world at large; so as to improve the standard of living of the poor, marginalized and low income earners to a level of having access to and control of resources, with the capacity to optimize these resources within sustainable bound. Read More>

Launch of SolarAid in London

copyright Andy Bodycombe

The road towards energy sufficiency in rural Africa: The case of Pwani village in Kenya, By Harun Warui, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

The small village of Pwani, Kenya has been transformed from extreme poverty to a community in which each house can have, at the very least, access to one lighting fixture using a solar charged 12 V battery, and one gas cooker. Just last year, a main 3 phase grid line was passed through the village, and the government set up a connection to the local school. A small dispensary was subsequently established in the area. The community is now looking to distribute this electricity to more households. Read more >

Distributed Energy Power in Haiti - Eco Systems and dissigno have teamed up for The Pedal Power Project.

Dissigno, a company that helps developers build innovative products and flourish in their desired marketplace, launched a pilot project, using Eco System technology, for 50 families in Bayonnais, Haiti in September 2007. Bayonnais is a community of 80,000 people without any electrical power. The Pedal Power Project created a valued product solution that is culturally sensitive, environmentally friendly, and economically sustainable. The pedal generator achieves this through an innovative technology that creates electricity through human power. Power is created through pedaling and stored in a 12-volt deep cycle battery, which in turn charges smaller 6-volt batteries (home units). Read More>

TechnoServe Leverages the Private Sector to Develop Kenya’s Economy

TechnoServe is working with agri-businesses and directly with farmers to help them to produce more higher-value products, thus creating jobs and increasing incomes. They are also promoting the growth of Kenya's business sector through wide-scale entrepreneurship programs and by helping promising small and medium businesses gain access to financing. Read More>

Chede's Village Centric Development Theory for Africa.

Chede’s advocacy focus on village-centric development strategies for Africa is aimed at reminding development policy makers and engineers that villages still exist in Africa. The strategy aims to level the existing disparities between Africa’s urban and so-called “rural sector”, which is in fact Africa’s village sector. Read more>

IN-SHP looking for African partners for the "Light-up Rural Africa" Project

The “Light-up Rural Africa” Project, which was designed by IN-SHP to promote SHP development in African rural areas, has been officially kicked off at the the 3rd Hydropower Forum. The main feature of LURA is to install about 100 PICO hydro units in remote rural areas to demonstrate how micro-hydro can contribute to tackle poverty. Equipment for the installation of the 100 units can be provided by IN-SHP. At current stage, IN-SHP is collecting site information from applicants. For more information and applications, please contact Maricla Costa at mcosta@inshp.org . Dowlnoad application form.

Renewable Energy Promotion towards Rural Economic Development through Public Private Partnership Initiative[PPPI]- Sri Lanka

Human and Community Development Youth Organization in collaboration with the Divisional Secretariat office Thirappane and an experienced Private Sector Organization called Lanka Biogen PVT LTD in the renewable energy sector has began to grow 3000 Acres of Glicisiria Plants in order to fulfill the fuel wood requirement for the proposed community based 1.5 MW Biomass[ Dendro] grid connected power project [Phase 1.] at Thrappane in Anuradapura district, Sri Lanka. Read more>

SgurrEnergy

SgurrEnergy is one of the UK’s leading technical advisory consultancies specialising in renewable energy. SgurrEnergy has extensive UK and international experience providing consultancy services across 5 continents in over 20 countries and assessed over 12,500MW of renewable energy installations on over 500 projects. Read more>

AERF Bio-Diesel Project promoted in the Media

AERF bio-diesel project is a project supported by GVEP through the GAPFund. This article, which was published in english news daily shows the role of renewable energy in satisfying energy needs both in rural and urban environment. For more information about the GapFund please click here.

K.S.S./R.O.S.E and the village of Kanda, Northern India

Kurmanchal Seva Sansthan / Rural Organisation for Social Elevation (K.S.S./R.O.S.E.) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization located in the village of Kanda in Northern India . It works at the grassroots level, appealing to members of the community to become active participants in developing a better life for themselves. It is the primary goal of K.S.S./R.O.S.E. to elevate the health, education and quality of life of the rural poor in this region while maintaining the cultural integrity and ecological balance. Read More>

BlueEnergy's projects

The primary mission of blueEnergy, a recent GVEP Partner, is to provide a low-cost, sustainable solution to the energy needs of underdeveloped communities. They are very active in the Nicaragua Carribean Coast and in the indian communities isolated from the national grid. BlueEnergy seeks to address their energy needs through the development, construction, installation, and maintenance of hybrid wind/solar energy systems using locally made micro wind turbines. Learn more about the the technology of blueEnergy, their business models and the blueEnergy pilot project by visiting their website. Read More>

SEFA - Solar Energy for Africa - Uganda

Solar Energy For Africa Ltd (SEFA Ltd) is a private company which purchase, sells, installs, maintains and services all types of solar energy/power systems, equipment and appliances in Uganda in particular, and the East African region in general. The company specialises in the Solar PV Business and has played a leading role in the development of the Solar Power Industry in Uganda. Read More>

ADEID - Welcome to the Cameroonian Micro Hydro Network!

ADEID has been working on small hydropower since 1990 and during the recent international seminar on "Micro Hydropower in Central Africa – Innovations and Exchanges" held at the end of October 2006, a micro-hydro network was created. Read more> (French and English website)

ChangeMaker, new partner GVEP in Bangladesh

ChangeMaker: Society for Social and Economic Development, is a local NGO, devoted to set up a development framework to encourage a pattern-setting system to strengthen and engage the civil society organizations, Private Sector Enterprises, Government Agencies, Educational and Research Institutes in the mainstream Human, Social and Economic Development. ChangeMaker’s objective is to address the urgent and critical issues of the community in an integrated way and provide an enabling environment to encourage participation of the target community to take the programs on their own. Read More>

ADS update on its project in the Takriza valley (Niger)

May 2007 - The ADS (Association Developpement et Solidarite) development project of the Takriza Valley (Niger) has reached its 6 years of implementation. Please visit the ADS website for the complete story. Read more>

Mexican Ecological House - requires solar (photovoltaic and thermal) and wind turbine,systems - CIATEC, Mexico

May 2007 - In 2007 an ecological house will be constructed that needs solar photovoltaic andthermal and wind turbine systems. The Ecological House will be an environmental education center located in León, Guanajuato. The non-profit oganization, “Agua y Bosque” initiated this project in 2006 as part of its objectives to create and transferecological technology for sustainability of the region. The education center will offer training and technology by way of the prototype house, interactive displays within the house, an operational manual of the systems, a technology transfer manual which evaluates the available technologies, and a book titled, "The Self-Sufficient Ecological House." Read More>

Envirofit International Two-Stroke Retrofit Projects in Vigan and Puerto Princesa, Philippines

March 2007 - The affects of air pollution kill 3–6 million people annually. But because of the chronic nature of air pollution, and the fact that its impacts fall disproportionately on the poor, it is not always recognized for its pervasive role in poor health, poverty and economic stagnation. Used to power taxis throughout cities in Asia, two-stroke engines are one of the largest sources of global vehicular emissions. The Philippines is home to 1.8 million two-stroke vehicles. Each year in its 4 largest cities, particulate emissions produce 2000 premature deaths and a $430 million economic burden. In 2003, a Philippine NGO approached Envirofit requesting our Direct Injection (DI) two-stroke retrofit technology to mitigate the country’s air pollution. Read More>

Jatropha Project, Mexico,

by Jorge Alejandro DelaVega Lozano
Senior Consultant, Agriculture-Rural Development

5 February 2007 - Bio-fuels, particularly bio-diesels, are fast emerging to become one of the more viable, sustainable and cleaner options for meeting the ever increasing energy demand. Emerging economies with vast unproductive lands and tropical climates can benefit greatly from the renewable energy resources such as Jatropha cultivation which has been identified as a thrust area for the initiation of projects to capitalize on its vast potential. Besides productively utilizing the lands available, this agro based initiative is likely to be more adaptable for the community than other options. Being a perennial crop Jatropha would ensure a minimum regular sustenance income to communities that are used to fluctuations in their income streams. Read More>

Photovoltaic Rural Electrification in Peru

25 January, 2007-This project, led by the Energy and Mines Department from Peru, seeks to help the Peruvian Government in reducing the gas emission, and in providing sustainable Energy access to rural and isolated communities.1500 SFV have been currently implemented, 4524 SFV will be implemented this year, and 2500 SFV in 2007. For more information about this project, please visit their website.

ADS (Association Developpement et Solidarite) in Niger

12 December, 2006- ADS (The Development and Solidarity Association), a GVEP partner, has been involved for over 10 years in a programme which supports the Tuareg population in North Niger. The Association works in the areas of education, health, energy and agriculture (water access, reforestation, subsistence crops, etc.) and also provides assistance in emergency situations such as the recent famine. Read more>

e8 to provide transfer of technical expertise to engineers and technical staff from developing country coal plants

10 December, 2006 - e8 companies have learned that the greatest increases in efficiency were the result of integrated and scheduled changes in equipment, maintenance activities, operation activities and a well-informed and supportive corporate culture. These changes in technologies and processes have reduced the companies’ CO2 emissions and enhanced particulate emission control. For these reasons, the e8 is organising technical workshops to share its expertise with engineers and technical staff from coal power plants in developing countries. Read more>

Tree Oils India promoting Biodiesel in India

8 December 2006- Tree Oils India Ltd. (TOIL) was established to build up an environment friendly and sustainable energy system based on plant sources, to contribute to waste land utilisation and the employment of rural women and to promote ethics and self reliance. TOIL is primarily engaged in the manufacture of Biodiesel from non-edible tree oils such as Jatropha and Pongamia etc., The Company expects that its pioneering efforts will contribute to the proliferation of non-edible oil tree plantations and biodiesel plants, resulting in the reduction of the import bill on account of fossil fuels and consequent pollution. Read more>

RIAED, International Network : Access to sustainable energy

20 November, 2006 - RIAED is a network of francophone experts involved in different energy access projects in developing countries. It was set up in January 2006 and the first three years of the project will be financed by the European Commission’s Intelligent Energy Program, the IEPF (Francophone Institute for Energy and Environment) and theADEME (The French Agency for the Environment and Energy Efficiency). Visit the Riaed website on line at the following address : http://www.riaed.net/. Read more>

Generating hydrogen from sugar-containing waste in Uganda

Chardust Produces Charcoal Briquettes in Kenya

12 July, 2005, Chardust Ltd.-The charcoal trade in Kenya is worth over US$200 million per annum but the industry remains illegal, informal and uncontrolled. Consumers have no viable alternatives to charcoal so they continue to use it in spite of significant environmental impacts. Chardust, a private company formed in 1999, set about producing charcoal briquettes from waste to offer a direct substitute. Please click here for full document (pdf,180 kb)

Watergy India

Australia: Bushlight: Improving livelihood choices for Indigenous people

Malaysia: A Case Study Community-based Microhydro in Long Lawen, Sarawak