White paper on off-grid access to renewable energy: 10 priority areas to do more, together

The off-grid energy access market has grown by almost 30% per year over the last two years, triggering investments in innovative services and financing models, and commitment from a wider variety of contributors (local authorities, local and private-sector entrepreneurs, donor agencies, etc.). While the United Nations' goal of universal access to energy in 2030 may seem ambitious, it is nonetheless achievable in light of technological progress, the combination of energy and digitalisation and the decreasing solutions costs. In this regard, using energy access solutions that rely on renewable energy appears necessary to preserve natural resources and tackle climate change. However, a number of obstacles remain, hindering the acceleration of these solutions' implementation, and jeopardising their long-term future. The national working group led by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) and the French Renewable Energy Association (SER) has identified four priority themes: the regulatory and contractual framework, collaboration between stakeholders, financing and innovation. Furthermore, given the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis on energy access programs and on ongoing projects, the working group has developed a specific analysis as well as recommendations, presented in a dedicated chapter. This multi-sector working group of over 100 participants - composed of public organisations, NGOs, private sector representatives, research institutions and French regions - has produced a set of recommendations aimed at removing some of the obstacles encountered in the field while implementing energy access projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, or Latin America. This document is intended for French and international decision-makers, donor agencies, rural electrification agencies, NGOs, businesses, and any other energy access stakeholder. It sets out to provide stakeholders with an up-to-date overview of areas for improvement, innovation within the sector, new regulatory environments, collaborative models and funding instruments that will help meet Sustainable Development Goal no. 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, by 2030. Off-grid energy access will facilitate the implementation of other sustainable development goals and contribute towards the overarching objective of leaving nobody behind, picked up again in the French road-map for the 2030 Agenda