From the United Nations Foundation

Newsletter June 2016

Dear Friends,

We all focus a lot on the billion+ people around the world who still lack access to electricity as we should! But sometimes it’s good to remind ourselves how far we’ve come over the past few years.

I was struck by the progress that’s been made at the June 1 EnergyAccessX event in San Francisco a Clean Energy Ministerial parallel event on decentralized energy solutions organized by Power for All, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Global LEAP program, the UK’s Department for International Development, and ClimateWorks Foundation.

The event attracted more than 100 entrepreneurs, thought leaders, technologists, designers, and policy experts from around the world for a dynamic and sophisticated discussion about how to collectively scale clean energy access. Topics ranged from the radical new business models being employed, to the disruptive force of decentralized clean energy technologies, to the creative new policies that are emerging in many different settings (for a more detailed description of the event click here).

When the UN Foundation first launched the Energy Access Practitioner Network in 2011, the international policy community focused very little on the potential for electricity to transform the lives of poor people around the world. What’s more, energy access wasn’t even on the technology or finance communities’ radar. At the time we had to work hard to connect and convene the disparate actors working on smallscale decentralized clean energy access around the globe.

Today the situation is remarkably different. Read More>>

With best regards, Ryan Hobert Senior Director, Energy & Climate United Nations Foundation

201516 Global LEAP Award Winners Announced at CEM7 The Clean Energy Ministerial has announced the winners of the 201516 Global LEAP Awards, an international competition that identifies and promotes the world’s best, most energyefficient offgrid appliances. This round of the Global LEAP Awards features competitions for televisions and fans that are designed for use with offgrid solar energy systems. This year, Practitioner Network member NIWA won Global LEAP Awards in the large television, small television, pedestal fan, medium table fan, and small table fan categories. Practitioner Network member d.light won the Award in the medium television category.

Ashden Awards Winners Announced Established in 2001, the Ashden Awards are a globally recognized measure for excellence in the field of green energy. Winners are selected through detailed applications as well as through visits from Ashden to review applicants’ work and meet project representatives. The culmination of the process is the Ashden Awards Ceremony in London, where prizes are presented to winners from across the globe to help further their work. This year’s winners include Practitioner Network members Frontier Markets, Greenlight Planet, and SunFunder.

UN SecretaryGeneral Speaks at EU Development Days, Sustainable Energy for All United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon addressed the opening ceremony of the European Development Days in Brussels on June 15 an annual twoday forum organized by the European Commission bringing together the development community to share ideas and experiences. The SecretaryGeneral said the focus of this year’s meeting on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was timely and influential, given that the meetings have fostered partnership and innovation for a better future for the past 10 years.

2016 UN Energy Grant on "Powering the Future We Want", Deadline July 15

PACEsetter second funding round now open, Deadline August 12

Ennovent seeks partnerships to impact lowincome markets in Kenya and East Africa

Founder & CEO of Global Cycle Solutions wins the 2016 C3E International Award

EarthSpark International Celebrates First Anniversary of Their Haiti Microgrid

SES and SolarKiosk Bring Power and Internet to Jordanian Refugee Camp

SolarNow Receives US$2 Million Loan to Accelerate Distribution of Solar Home Systems in Uganda

d.light Shares Recent Impact Data

ALER Joins the Practitioner Network

GSMA’s M4D Utilities Program Yields Case Studies by Practitioner Network Members

New Version of IRENA’s Global Atlas for Renewable Energy Now Available IRENA launched a new version of the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, the online renewable energy mapping platform. For the first time, the platform allows users to download resource data for offline analysis, and to print and export map images. With these enhancements, the Global Atlas now offers a complete suite of services to support renewable resource mapping and assessment, including an online GIS interface, datasets for five renewable energy technologies that cover every country in the world, online analysis tools, and the ability to export data and maps in several different formats.

REN21 Microsite for the Latest Data on Renewables The Renewables 2016 Global Status Report (GSR) is now available via a microsite: www.ren21.net/gsr online. Here the full GSR can be read online; all references are available and linked. The site has been designed so that users with low or poor connectivity can consult the report directly without having to download any items.

Practical Action Launches a New Mobile App Practical Action has recently launched a new app called the “Practical Answers”. This app will enable development practitioners to access more than 2000 practical “how to” guides on a range of themes including agriculture, construction, disaster mitigation response and recovery, energy, environment and adaptation to climate change, water, and sanitation. Download the app from the Apple store or the Google Play Store.

Member Spotlight: SunFarmer By: Amanda Eller, Director of Impact, SunFarmer

Energy Access Practitioner Network member SunFarmer is bringing pioneering solar energy technologies and business models to Nepal. Since January 2014, SunFarmer has built over 120 solar energy systems at hospitals, schools, farms, and businesses across the country. In 2015, SunFarmer was selected to participate in Y Combinator, the prestigious Silicon Valley incubator program, and was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative, National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge, and the World Economic Forum.

Photo Credit: SunFarmer

INQUIRER.net Welcome to the following The Truth About Solar: Now Cheaper Than Coal organizations that have joined the Practitioner Network in the past month: HuffPost Business Can $50M in Emerging Market Solar Help Unlock a Clean Trillion? Colombia Generar Sin Contaminar

edie.net From ISO to LEDs: Global Leaders Announce Seven Huge Schemes to Drive the LowCarbon Ecuador Transition Empresa Electrica Quito

Microgrid Knowledge Italy What’s Behind Caterpillar’s New Hybrid Microgrid Florence School of Regulation Play? Here’s a Deeper Look

HuffPost Green Japan Who Will Serve the World’s Missing Middle? PEAR Carbon Offset Initiative Ltd.

Greentech Media Kenya Let’s Not Settle for OffGrid Solar Because It’s Rafode Ltd. ‘Good Enough’ for the Energy Poor

Mexico La Rural

United Kingdom Kuungana Advisory United States REN21 Enphase Renewables 2016 Global Status Report

GOGLA Social Impact Report Zambia Dread and Works Enterprises World Bank EE+EA: Enhancing the World Bank's Energy Access Investments Through Energy Efficiency

WRI The Impactsof SmallScale Electricity Systems on Rural Communities in India and Nepal

AfDB, OECD, UNDP African Economic Outlook 2016

IASS The Future of Africa's Energy Supply

Scottish Renewables Power Distribution & 2016 IEEE PowerAfrica Storage & Systems Metering West Africa Conference Conference Conference & Expo

June 28July 2, 2016 June 30, 2016 June 30July 1, 2016 Livingston, Zambia Glasgow, Scotland Abuja, Nigeria

Power & Energy Africa Intersolar North Offshore Energy and 2016 America 2016 Storage Symposium

July 79,2016 July 1214, 2016 July 1315, 2016 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania San Francisco, USA Valletta, Malta

India Energy Access UN General Assembly Summit 2016 Week Asia Power Week

September 17264, September 2022,2016 August 11, 2016 2016 Seou, South Korea New Delhi, India New York, USA

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