Portfolio

Development of a HIGH Capacity FLEXible Energy Storage System for Mini-Grid Application in Sub-Sahara Africa (HIGHFLEX)

Aceon Battery Solar Technology

Nigeria

Smart green grids, including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

HIGHFLEX technology is a portable and scalable system that facilitates the quick development of mini-grids in sub-Saharan Africa, energy storage for off-peak use and the delivery of reliable and affordable power systems.

HIGHFLEX will facilitate a steady electricity supply to rural and unserved areas. The technology will be deployed in Nigeria, where the majority of its rural population (48% of Nigeria’s total population) cannot access affordable and low carbon electricity.
The project addresses access to electricity, which is a barrier to advancements in the healthcare system, as well as developing new technologies for agriculture, commerce, education, and entrepreneurship.

FITS Power Plant - Cambodia Island Community

Achelous Energy

Cambodia

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Early

Round 10

Achelous Energy Limited has created a power plant with its ‘Floating Instream Tidal and Solar (FITS)’ technology, creating clean electricity from water and solar energy. The technology has now been demonstrated at full-scale and a pilot project is underway to facilitate a FITS-supplied mini-grid to a rural community in Nepal.

FITS technology is also viable for use in Cambodia given its extensive rivers as the country needs more electricity as its economy grows. This project will also assess whether Achelous Energy’s FITS platform can be used for a pilot project in an island village along the Mekong River. The electricity provided will be used for both domestic use during the day and irrigation overnight.

Fiji WAVEFLOW

Aeon Energy

Fiji

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

For island nations, limited land availability poses a significant challenge for onshore renewable solutions. Aeon Energy addresses this with its ocean-based technology.

Designed to integrate with floating wind systems, Aeon Energy’s technology combines wind and wave power. This combination optimises energy production. It also reduces costs by utilising existing offshore wind installations and infrastructure. This cost-effectiveness makes clean energy accessible to a broader population, which, in turn, helps bridge the energy gap. By deploying wave technology alongside floating wind systems, island nations can overcome energy challenges and pave the way for a cleaner and more sustainable future.

Women Entrepreneurs Powering Communities with Productive Use of Renewable Energy in Tanzania

Africa Power

Tanzania

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Women and children are disproportionately impacted by energy poverty and can spend up to ten hours a week collecting fuel for energy use. Walking great distances for fuel too often puts women in vulnerable situations and cooking with these fuels endangers their health. This causes many young girls to leave school to collect fuel and prevents women from participating in other income-generating activities.

Africa Power develops, deploys and sells off-grid solar solutions for Africa and has developed a range of Productive-Use-of-Energy (PUE) products. Partnering with Solar Sister’s, this project uses Solar Sister’s last-mile distribution networks in Tanzania to trial Africa Power’s solar solution and drive access to appliances. The project takes a gender-inclusive approach as it promotes climate resilience and food security.

Testing of new designed highly efficient small Solar fridges for Africa

Africa Power

Uganda

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Food shortages and malnutrition impact many sub-Saharan African countries. In Uganda, milk consumption alone is at 65 litres per year, falling well below the recommended consumption of 210 litres that the World Health Organisation recommends for a population of that size.
While Uganda has twice the milk processing capacity compared to its current milk collection volume, unlit roads and lack of refrigeration means that the night milking from smallholder farms – representing 90% of all farms – cannot be sold in the formal milk chain causing vast waste and shortages.

Africa Power looks to design and test a range of solar-powered, high-efficiency fridges. These off-grid fridges can help small farmers earn more money from their dairy products and reduce milk waste by storing it for longer. This project hopes to show that increasing nutrition and reaching Net Zero-carbon products are not mutually exclusive.

ACE DELIVERS: Distribution of Energy to the Last-Mile through an Inclusive Value-Chain Ensuring Responsible Services

Challenges Catalyst

Uganda

Modern cooking

Mid

Round 10

African Clean Energy (ACE) and The Challenges Group seek to establish a scalable, decentralised and digitised distribution model for sustainable briquettes in Uganda. ACE has demand for its briquettes, but the existing delivery method is impractical and unsustainable.
Through Energy Catalyst support this project will develop an inclusive approach to reconfigure and incentivise Uganda’s physical infrastructure, including local retailers and motorcycle riders, to promote efficient and cost-effective last-mile delivery. The approach will use a digital framework, enhanced by ACE’s app, ACE Connect, to improve access to affordable sustainable cooking options.

This innovation is timely, for tackling Uganda’s heavy reliance on charcoal for cooking. ACE’s approach will catalyse a just transition from the charcoal value chain and have a lasting impact on energy access in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Solar Powered Milling: pioneering efficient and affordable staple food processing in Africa

Wellspring Development Capital

Kenya

Low energy inclusive appliances

Mid

Round 10

The project envisions developing a solar milling solution, the Agsol MicroMill, to replace diesel-powered mills in off-grid areas of rural Africa. Key objectives for this Energy Catalyst supported project include optimising product design, preparing for mass manufacturing, designing fair financing tools, and creating a commercial strategy. Focused on Kenya initially, the project aims to expand to five additional countries. Over 18 months, Agsol also plans to manufacture and sell 500 MicroMills, delivering 300 kW of new solar capacity, avoiding 400,000 litres of diesel, reducing 1,000 tonnes of CO2, and providing significant social impact, including freeing 3 million hours of women’s time. The innovative project incorporates IoT technologies for real-time monitoring and inclusive ‘pay-as-you-earn’ financing.

REACT Mid-stage - Renewable Energy Access for the Conversion of Tuk-tuks

Alta Vision

Sri Lanka,

Energy storage, including batteries and mechanical storage

Mid

Round 10

Building on a successful early-stage project, this initiative by Alta Vision addresses the urgent need for affordable, reliable, and carbon-free energy for Sri Lankan tuk-tuk drivers. Through support from Energy Catalyst it aims to convert internal combustion engine tuk-tuks to electricity, powered by clean solar energy. Tuk-tuk drivers, crucial for income in Sri Lanka, currently lack suitable energy sources. With over 1.2 million petrol-powered tuk-tuks causing significant air pollution, the project aims to refine the innovative tuk-tuk conversion and battery subscription scheme. Led by Alta Vision (Pvt) Ltd and partnered with Large Minority and academic experts, the team seeks to mature the user-centered technology and business model, addressing technical and business challenges for successful implementation.

Electrical Storage Systems for Sustainable Uninterrupted Clean Energy and Water Supply to Hospitals and Communities in South Sudan

Smart Villages Research Group

South Sudan

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

South Sudan faces a critical lack of clean water and reliable energy, and this scarcity impacts education and healthcare. With less than half the population accessing water, life expectancy is low, and infant mortality rates are high. Aptech has consulted with the South Sudan government and local NGOs to introduce a new project featuring an innovative Electrical Storage System (ESS) and Solar Water Pumping.

The pilot project aims to provide continuous power and water through community water kiosks. Solar energy installation ensures uninterrupted power for schools and hospitals. The solar-powered water pumping and backup system provide clean water all day. This benefits the whole community, including schools and hospitals. It also avoids the uncertain costs of diesel generators by selling water. The money from water sales will support maintenance and replacement costs.

Green on 2 Wheels (Go-2W): translating low-carbon energy into low-cost mobility

Arc Ride

Kenya

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Kenyan energy regulators implemented an e-mobility tariff to spur uptake in cleaner transportation. The challenge is that there is no tangible way to apply these rates to the costs for riders using cleaner alternatives and battery swapping stations (BSS).

To combat this challenge, Go-2W will test a token-based reward system. With support from Energy Catalyst, it will match BSS for electric two-wheelers with solar and extra renewable electricity. Riders who use green batteries charged via low-carbon sources will receive in-app tokens that can be redeemed for future battery swaps. The tokens’ value is determined by the different costs of peak, off-peak, and solar electricity used to charge the batteries.

With this project, Go-2W plans to install ten solar-powered BSSs in Nairobi, targeting boda-boda riders and female commuters during a four-month trial.

Solar Hospital EnergyLeasing Demonstrator (SHIELD)

University Of Oxford

Kenya

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Kenya’s public hospitals lack electrical power meaning persistent blackouts causing instability in energy supplies leading to high costs to power vital services. When the power fails, so do the fridges, breaking the ‘cold chain’. Vaccines can be lost and expensive medicines perished, and life depending surgeries cancelled or abandoned.

Onsite solar energy generation provides technological solutions with huge potential to address these key issues. Through the Solar Hospital Energy Leasing Demonstrator (SHIELD) project Astonfield Solar are aiming make Kenya’s hospitals more resilient by installing a solar system at one of Kenya’s most important public hospitals so that they can save more lives and work through the extreme weather they face in the years ahead. It is hoped that this project will show how other public hospitals in Africa can utilise onsite solar energy installations to serve the most vulnerable populations though this cost-effective and value-adding method.

SolarSaver2 (SS2) Low Cost Energy Solution in Africa Energy Catalyst Round 10: Mid Stage

Biopower Technologies

Tanzania

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Fruit and vegetable products have high moisture content and to combat the energy consumption associated with these products, the key target is to reduce conventional drying techniques’ energy consumption, operating costs and carbon footprint through a low-temperature drying process.

SOLARSAVER2 focuses on delivering a sustainable business model through low-carbon, off-grid drying solutions. The project aims to create value for small- and large-scale agricultural producers and other stakeholders. It does this by adding a new sustainable technical and processing solution at a pricing level suitable for deployment in Africa and Asia to create highly nutritious products and reduce food waste. Extensive operations and trials are planned in Tanzania, including local manufacturing.

The project's overarching vision is the establishment of a clean, reliable, and affordable energy and marine transport infrastructure in remote coastal Island communities.

Sustainable Transition Pacific PTE Limited, Clay Energy Limited, Northern Barges Limited, and University of South Pacific

Fiji

Smart green grids

Early

Round 10

The initial stage of the project is conducting a feasibility study into the development of an innovative network of maritime island energy and distribution hubs in Fiji that are interconnected by electric vessel passenger and freight routes. Each hub will be a hybrid energy generation centre, drawing on a combination of Solar PV and Coconut Oil Generation. A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will be used to efficiently match supply and demand.

The project will improve energy access for land based consumers at the hubs and electric vessels serving routes between the hubs.

Identify and test an appropriate solar-energy storage mechanism for remote households deployment in rural communities of Papua New Guinea

FutureValue, Pacific Sterling Ltd

Papua New Guinea

Energy storage, batteries

Mid

Round 10

This project brings together BPP Renewables (UK) and Pacific Sterling Limited (Papa New Guinea) to identify the most appropriate energy storage mechanism for rural communities in Indo-Pacific countries, with a case study being developed for Irimuku Village, Kikori District, Gulf Province, a rural community in PNG. This project aims to improve the electrification of rural communities, allowing the use of renewable energy methods to be deployed in remote locations with significant constraints, including geographical isolation, thereby improving living standards for the target community.

BPP Renewables will provide technical expertise for analysis of potential energy storage methods, with Pacific Sterling to construct a demonstrator household solar battery system with the chosen energy storage method. The demonstrator project will allow the key benefits of the system to be monitored in situ and verify the theoretical performance of the system.

Solar-hydrogen microgrid for clean electricity, fresh water and oxygen supply to hospital facilities and surrounding community in Kikori District, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Solar hydrogen microgrid

Early

Round 10

This project brings together BPP-TECH and FutureValue to develop a high-level design of a mini-grid solar-hydrogen system with clean water and oxygen production for a hospital facility in the Kikori District of PNG, servicing a remote population of 15,000 people. BPP-TECH will provide the technical expertise for the mini-grid solution, with FutureValue and hospital administrators of Kikori District providing key input data, considering limitations of existing infrastructure and enabling benefits of the system to be evaluated within the local context.

The Green H2 system will be modular, with a Plug & Play set-up, minimising complexity of operations and avoiding the need for external expertise to manage the system in the long-term. The produced hydrogen will be used as a clean energy storage solution to ensure a continuous power supply to the hospital facilities when electricity production from solar energy is not possible. 

RASSCOL Nepal: Retrofit Application of Spectrally Selective Coatings to Overhead Lines

Cable Coatings

Nepal

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

Cable Coatings limited are working to increase the performance of electricity networks while reducing energy losses, cost and emissions all at the same time. This project aims to demonstrate discontinuous cost savings in upgrading transmission and distribution capacity via the application of capacity-enhancing coatings to overhead lines in Nepal.

Bitesize Energy Portable Productive Power for Enhanced Energy Access and Productivity

Challenges Catalyst

Malawi

Energy storage including batteries and mechanical storage

Mid

Round 10

Despite its potential, Malawi’s mini-grid market remains in its infancy, facing barriers to realising full impact. Building upon existing hardware and software developed by CREATIVenergie during Energy Catalyst Round 7, this project aims to increase access to reliable and affordable energy in rural Malawi by integrating portable productive applications into a rental model with pay-per-use battery swapping. This pilot builds on existing hardware and software developed by CREATIVenergie and generates local data on Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and Average Weekly Time of Power (AWTP) to support accurate load projection and de-risk mini-grid investments.

The project will use a two-tier ‘franchisor-franchisee’ model in partnership with local mini-grid developers and will target communities where mini-grids are the preferred electrification option and recruit and train local franchisees.
It will also include hardware and software development, demonstrator implementation, commercial implementation, mini-grid developer and government engagement, franchise model development, and business and financial planning.

Improving access to sustainable energy in rural Pakistan using food and fiber agro-waste as a renewable fuel (SAFER)

Northumbria University

Pakistan

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Early

Round 10

More than 50% of people in Pakistan’s rural areas live without electricity. It increases their reliance on energy imports and fossil fuels.
SAFER seeks to improve access to sustainable energy in rural Pakistan by harnessing agro-waste from fibre production and turn it into a sustainable and accessible energy source.

It forges two technologies to create a circular model based on food, fibre, and energy while rendering zero waste. One technology produces high-quality textile fibres using agro-waste such as banana peels. The fibre production process generates a second round of agro-waste, maximising resource use. Through a second technology, the power of agro-waste to generate syngas can be harnessed and used to produce electricity.
By converting agro-waste into renewable fuel, SAFER can alleviate the burden on Pakistan’s overstretched energy sector.
Beyond energy production, SAFER can also help improve Pakistan’s textile sector, the country’s largest exporter and facilitate effective waste management.

Energy Intelligence: smart insights for affordable clean energy

Enee.Io

Nigeria

Energy storage including batteries and mechanical storage

Mid

Round 10

The enee.io project is a low-cost intelligent energy monitoring system that uses IoT sensors to collect and analyse data from energy sources, storage, and consumption. This Energy Catalyst supported project will provide customers with plug-and-play sensors, mobile and web applications, and web-based reporting to optimise energy usage, improve system health, and safeguard backup power. It will use AI to enable users to fully optimise their energy system, increasing availability, resilience, and performance. As a result, the project seeks to help people in low-income countries who pay high amounts for energy and suffer the effects exacerbated by pollution caused by diesel generators.

Innovative Low Voltage Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) for Affordable Microgrid Distribution Infrastructure in Africa

Smart Villages Research Group

Lesotho

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Early

Round 10

The cost of distribution significantly hinders the commercial viability of mini-grids. As a result, remote households struggle to connect to electricity systems in off-grid rural communities. The distribution methods need to catch up with advancements in generation, storage, and affordability.

Single Wire Earth Return is used for high-voltage rural connections in several countries, including the US, South Africa, Mozambique, Laos, Brazil and New Zealand. In this feasibility study by Smart Villages Research Group, Single Wire Earth Return will be adopted to low voltage use in last-mile connectivity in rural mini-grids. The technology will be tested in different places and climates to collect data on its performance. The data will show how cost-effective it is for users as current estimates predict cost savings of as much as 70%.

The project hopes to work with local regulators and the international energy access community to introduce them to the technology and encourage its uptake.

Energy Innovation for Reducing Post Harvest Loss

Enso Trading

Kenya

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Kenya-based company Enso Trading, uses heat recovery, airflow, and solar thermal technology for agri-processing. This project works with producers and processors in moringa and mango value chains to help them reduce post-harvest losses. These losses happen when products go bad before they can be sold.

The project will demonstrate the effectiveness of solar-thermal drying for moringa processing. It will design, build and commission a high-capacity dryer able to operate 24/7 on renewable energy at a moringa facility that serves 500 farmers. The solar thermal system has many advantages over existing technology, such as, it dries produce faster and keeps a constant temperature that can be monitored from afar. It’s also less expensive and easier to install. This will help create products that meet the requirements of international buyers who want to expand their supply chains to East Africa.

Sodium-ion batteries for BESS in South Asia utilising a local materials supply chain

Faradion

Sri Lanka

Energy storage, including batteries and mechanical storage

Late

Round 10

To maximise renewable energy, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are crucial. They bolster electrical grids and bring energy to off-grid locations.
While most BESS use lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries, Faradion’s Sodium-Ion Battery offers a more affordable and sustainable option. With a decade of tech development and low-voltage packs for residential applications, this Energy Catalyst supported project aims to create a high-voltage BESS for large-scale production, meeting South Asia’s growing demand.

The goal is to establish local supply chains, ensuring materials and components cater to South Asia’s rapidly expanding energy storage market.

Off-Grid Renewable Energy Production and Storage with Organic Rankine Cycle, Solar and Waste (RESORCS)

Fetu

Sri Lanka

Other energy access technology

Mid

Round 10

According to the International Energy Agency, around four percent of the world electricity supply comes from solar electric cells. Solar energy is abundantly available in South Asia and in sub Saharan Africa but is not harnessed to it’s full potential. The RESORCS project aims to harness abundant solar energy in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa by designing an off-grid renewable energy system. Unlike conventional solar electric cells, RESORCS features a concentrated solar collector to efficiently collect thermal energy. This collected energy powers a high-output Rankine engine, the FeTu turbine, augmented by waste combustion and bio-gas generation. The hybrid system stores thermal energy in a reservoir, enabling electricity generation for direct use, grid connection, or storage. The Energy Catalyst supported project targets optimal efficiency, eco-friendly materials, and sustainable applications, fostering clean energy adoption in households or small-scale enterprises. Key objectives include concentrated solar collector optimisation, thermal storage development, turbine generator design, waste combustion integration, system prototyping, and impact assessment.

Identify and test an appropriate solar-energy storage mechanism for remote households deployment in rural communities of Papua New Guinea

PR Corporation SA, Kazi Tanzania Ltd, Cotit, Mt. Kilimanjaro Business Consulting LLC

South Africa

Mini grids

Late

Round 10

This is a three-year ‘proof-of-concept’ project in which three off-grid rural communities in Tanzania will be provided with an affordable and reliable supply of electricity, and easy, affordable access to electrically-powered “Productive Use Equipment” (PUE) such as agri-processing equipment for the workplace e.g. maize milling machines, commercial refrigeration for crops, fruit-juice processing equipment, and electric cooking facilities for the home, so that the project will:

a) create immediate demand for electricity by establishing ‘anchor clients’ for each mini-grid (thereby reassuring investors that RoI will accrue from the guaranteed use of mini-grid electricity)

b) create jobs, reduce post-harvest crop losses, adding value and volumes to crop sales, and generally creating wealth at village level (wealth which later translates into the purchase of more electrical appliances for the home and thus a greater demand for electricity).

GoHubs Mozambique Green Fishing and Cold Chain Hubs

Gommyr Power Networks

Mozambique

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

In Mozambique, artisanal fishing accounts for 90% of the total catch, and over 15% of households depend on it for their livelihoods. However, energy and transportation gaps along the coast limit resource availability and market access. Enter GoHubs Mozambique is a network of solar-battery microgrid hubs designed to provide reliable renewable energy solutions. These hubs aim to unlock markets, reduce fish losses, and enhance the local fishing sector.

GoHubs integrates energy-intensive operations like ice production, cold storage, water pumping, and electric refrigerated transport, powered by on-site solar-battery microgrids. This bundling approach ensures a continuous, reliable cold chain from boat to market.

This is an Energy Catalyst supported pilot project with a community fish market in Mozambiques, Inhambane Province. The project seeks to improve livelihoods and demonstrate how renewable cold chains can unlock green growth.

Ubuntu Energy

Kula Foods

Nigeria

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Nigeria’s electricity sector is hampered due to it’s distributed energy resources (DERs) being sub-optimally utilised meaning that they are substantially wasteful. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are up to 400% oversized or lack the mechanism required to utilise their generation potential. Rural communities only utilise about 5% of the potential PV energy, yet, 85 million Nigerians have no electricity access, costing Nigeria $26 billion annually for self-generation using carbon-intensive generators.

With support from Energy Catalyst, Greenage Technologies Power Systems aims to enhance community resilience in sub-Saharan Africa through Energy Ubuntu, an innovative energy-sharing platform. Similar to the ‘Uber of Energy,’ it democratises power sharing, converting wasted energy into community power. Addressing challenges of energy access, poverty, and global warming, the initiative designs a smart grid peer-to-peer energy-sharing framework for Nigeria. With a focus on optimising distributed energy resources and utilising excess generation potential, Energy Ubuntu incentivises individuals and businesses to sell clean and affordable electricity to nearby consumers.

Hybrid Lithium-ion and Iron Flow Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Zambia for integrating variable renewable energy into the national grid and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP)

Africa Greenco Group

Zambia

Energy storage including batteries and mechanical storage

Late

Round 10

GreenCo trades renewable energy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It offers bankable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the challenges of integrating variable renewable energy into the grid. GreenCo is funded by InfraCo Africa, IFU (Denmark), and EDFI ElectriFI, and is the first market participant member of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

GreenCo is developing a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS Pilot) that optimises energy use and redistributes energy during peak hours. It will combine Lithium-ion and Iron Redox Flow batteries, demonstrating the viability of Iron Redox Flow technology in a hybrid configuration. GreenCo will invest Energy Catalyst funding in making the BESS Pilot commercially viable and to support an inclusive energy transition in the SADC. GreenCo is also collaborating with K&M Advisors to conduct a feasibility study for the BESS Pilot, funded by the USTDA.

UNIQUE STEAM TO POWER GENERATOR SYSTEMS FOR DECENTRALISED THERMAL PLANTS AND SMALL WASTE INCINERATORS

Heliex Power

Nigeria

Diesel and petrol generator replacements

Mid

Round 10

Nigeria has limited and unreliable grid electricity supply, limiting industrial growth and productivity. Power intermittency and being off-grid cause industries to rely on highly polluting, costly diesel generators.

Saturated wet steam is common in thermal processes in industries that produce waste heat. Through Heliex Power’s technology, these industries can generate power from wet steam and Heliex’s technology has already proven successful in Europe. However, in its current form, the solution requires grid connectivity. This project aims to develop the electrical and control systems of Heliex Power’s technology to allow off-grid use. It would make the technology much more suitable to industries in countries like Nigeria. It will significantly reduce emissions in the long run and make it affordable for industrial customers to run their factories. The latter is increasingly important with Nigeria’s removal of government diesel subsidies.

Solar2Wave Mid Stage: Demonstration of a Floating Solar Farm in Indonesian Ocean Waves

Achelous Energy

Indonesia

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Communities on Indonesia’s remote islands rely on expensive and polluting diesel power. This high cost dictates that the island residents have limited electricity. So much so that four million people in Indonesia still lack access to energy.

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) is an appealing and scalable solution to replace Indonesia’s current 86% power generation from fossil fuels. An FPV farm consists of small individual solar panels that can be placed along the coastal line of an island and connected to residents.

Solar2Wave will construct and operate Indonesia’s first FPV site in the ocean. The Solar2Wave innovation can ensure that FPV panels remain intact from incident ocean waves, making it a sustainable solution – especially in Indonesia, whose coastline stretches 157,000 km.

CoolRun Malawi

Hubl Logistics

Malawi

Sustainable cooling

Mid

Round 10

Though agriculture is a key industry in Malawi, the tropical climate lacks a reliable cold supply chain, leading to up to 50% wastage of vital produce. This project aims to develop a micro, affordable, mobile, sustainable refrigeration system comprising a modular box cooled by Phase Change Material (PCM) panels. The crop is pre-cooled at a central location using a solar-powered refrigeration unit that cools the PCM panels. Fruit and vegetable farming and selling in Malawi are activities commonly divided based on gender, men own the land while women farm and sell. The technology is being developed with farming and selling enterprises in Malawi in mind. In doing so, the project seeks to empower women and cut waste dramatically, providing more to sell and reach markets where sellers can generate greater returns, improving their incomes and livelihoods.

3D-printed gas turbines for efficient conversion of biogas to power in rural communities of the Global South

University Of Edinburgh

Malawi

Diesel and petrol generator replacements

Early

Round 10

Micro gas turbines (MGTs) are lower maintenance, cleaner and easier to multifuel than piston engine generators. This is especially true compared to diesel in small-scale applications of <500 kW. MGTS could thereby provide an alternative to diesel piston engine generators in mini-grids. HyperGen is adapting a novel MGT design that can handle a variety of fuels, including biogas, which is cheaper than batteries and cleaner than diesel for peak or backup generation. This project will focus on farm cooperatives in Malawi who currently have minimal access to electricity. Malawi Fruits will provide a consumer view on competing technologies and assess how access to 24/7 clean power from MGTs could change the lives of these farmers. Production of biogas for cooking and fertilizer from Anaerobic Digestion is also a side benefit that could be deployed early on.

An Open-Water Demonstration of INWave Wave Energy Converter Power Plant in Vietnam

Ingine Wave Energy Systems

Vietnam

Other energy access technology

Mid

Round 10

Across Vietnam’s remote coastal regions, costly diesel generators are commonly used to provide access to electricity.

IWES has created INWave, a land-based Wave Energy Converter ideal for coastlines and islands. It benefits fishing and farming communities along the coast, providing coastal communities with increased energy security at a lower cost. Compared to most wave projects, IWES’ power generation unit is located on the shoreline, not at sea. This design enables system stability and significant cost reductions and makes clean energy infrastructure investment more affordable.

The project involves constructing a pilot plant in Vietnam as ocean energy has vast potential for Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific Ocean region.

VUTSELA: Sustainable Farm-based Biogas Systems with Community Impact in Eswatini

Science Technology And Innovation For Development

Eswatini (Swaziland)

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Eswatini’s is heavily dependent on South Africa and Mozambique for energy supplies, importing 80% of its electricity. Yet, as South African production facilities close, there will be a drop in liquefied petroleum gas. Since 71% of Eswatini’s land is agricultural, and feedstock for digestion is readily available, biogas could bridge the gap. Biogas generated sustainably from farm waste could satisfy household or light-industrial heating requirements.

During the course of the project Science Technology and Innovation for Development and Kainos Projects Africa will introduce 100 digesters and 15 prototypes to farms in Eswatini and neighbouring South Africa. This project aims to gain feedback through community engagement and a Smart Villages Research Group. This will help them understand the needs of local farms and communities. It will also inform design revisions before future commercial rollout.

The project's overarching vision is the establishment of a clean, reliable, and affordable energy and marine transport infrastructure in remote coastal Island communities.

Gordian Development Services, PT Mutitron Automa

Indonesia

Energy storage, batteries

Early

Round 10

LIND Ltd, a UK energy storage company, specializes in redox flow batteries for homes, offering cost-effective heating and electricity solutions through variable tariffs. Our unique system utilizes a thermally resistant electrolyte, ensuring high performance even in hotter climates. By eliminating the need for energy-consuming cooling mechanisms, our technology maximizes efficiency and returns more energy to the user. In collaboration with PT Mutitron Automa, we support the Lasalimu community in Indonesia by integrating our innovative technology into their 1 MW solar power plant project.

Lasalimu, a farming village on Buton Island with over 15,000 residents, faces limited access to affordable electricity. With a monthly budget of 50 Indonesian Rupees (£0.003), households rely on 1.3 kVA of electricity from the state-owned energy provider, PLN (small compared to the UK average is 18.4 kVA). To address this issue, installing a solar power plant was approved to enhance energy reliability, reduce costs, foster industrial growth, and decrease dependence on carbon-emitting diesel generators.

Modular Energy Storage with Clean Hydrogen (MESCH)

International Lead Association

Malaw+H56i

Low carbon hydrogen

Mid

Round 10

The Modular Energy Storage with Clean Hydrogen (MESCH) project aims to develop and deploy a novel battery and hydrogen production technology, known as a battolyser, within a modularised hybrid energy storage system. Over a 2-year period, partners will pilot MESCH at a Malawi hospital, addressing electricity, cooking, and educational needs. The initiative targets socially critical organisations like hospitals, schools, and businesses, with a long-term plan for deployment in other African and Asian regions. With a focus on reliability, affordability, and renewable energy, MESCH aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals SDG7 and SDG13, offering a low-cost solution to the energy challenges faced by over 800 million people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

BioEnergy Powering Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Enhancement- BEPeARLe

Mandulis Energy (Uk)

Uganda

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Late

Round 10

High capacity batteries come at a high-cost but are vital in improving energy infrastructre. Mandulis seeks to provide all three components of the energy trilemma, affordability, reliability, and sustainability of clean energy access. It uses waste to create clean energy for processing crops, cooking, and fertilisers to accomplish this. This circular economy model leverages and revalorises residues and byproducts of the process. It makes all these goods and services affordable, reliable, and sustainable for smallholder farmers.

This Energy Catalyst supported project aims to show how integrating farming and energy sectors can bring economic advantages. Mandulis will bring these two sectors together to foster cross-sectoral engagement, stimulate business opportunities, and partnerships between smallholder farmers in Botswana, Cambodia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia with larger economic players.

MatZero: Clean energy and heat solution for refugee communities

Mat Zero Heat

Nepal

Low energy inclusive appliances

Early

Round 10

It is estimated that 33 million refugees need life-sustaining heating in locations where temperatures drop below 10°C in winter or at night. However, current heating methods used in displacement settings include diesel heaters and burning kerosene, firewood, and gas canisters, which lead to fires, release toxic fumes, and harm the environment. On top of that, they are expensive costing around $300 per refugee household per year.

Solar PV systems can reduce CO2 emissions by 45-70 g CO2/kWh compared to fossil fuel-based solutions. With PV costs dropping, clean heating solutions are becoming financially viable. Mat Zero Heat Ltds solar-powered heating solution creates safer, better and greener heating. This project will take place in Nepal to validate the prototype system. Additional goals are to capture user feedback, assess the feasibility of successful use, and identify ways to maximise the social impact the product achieves in Nepal and beyond.

Transitioning pellet stove production: China to Rwanda

Biomassters (Uk)

Rwanda

Modern cooking

Early

Round 10

BioMassters are responsible for the first WHO, tier-4 clean burning gasification stoves to run on biofuel, the portable Mimi Moto model was an important innovation in clean cooking. Pellet fuel is roughly 30% cheaper than charcoal and uses 90% less biomass than charcoal cooking.

BioMassters wants to roll out a new version that can be assembled locally at home. By producing the stove in Rwanda, Mimi Moto’s cookstoves will lower its market rate, create green jobs and enable customisation. A pilot initiative with several Village Chiefs saw positive feedback. By building trust with Village Chiefs, it’s hoped that with support from Energy Catalyst this initiative can open people up to replacing traditional methods with pellet fuel and stove systems. Since cooking in Rwanda is carried out primarily by women and girls, BioMassters positively impacts both the environment and women’s health.

Integrating Sustainable Technologies to create a ‘Distributed Renewable Energy System’ for Clean Cooking, Milling and Cooling in Nigeria and DRC.

Mobile Power

Nigeria

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Late

Round 10

Mobile Power has a unique power delivery ecosystem and business model through installing solar-powered battery charging Hubs (MOPO Hubs). Batteries are rented via a ‘pay-per-use’ model at 70-80% lower cost than fossil fuel alternatives. This project aims to integrate innovative clean energy technologies within Mobile Power’s energy ecosystem to replace fossil-fuel generators and wood-biomass for cooking in rural Nigeria and DRC. It will demonstrate a solution that integrates generation, distribution and use of clean-energy in rural settings. The project uses Pyrogenesys’ waste-to-energy technology to generate electricity that will be distributed by Mobile Power’s battery storage technology to power clean cooking, grain milling, and sustainable cooling. These integrated technologies will be demonstrated in 100 rural off-grid communities in new markets, demonstrating a commercially scalable product and services that will unlock future sales and further investment.

Towards a new power infrastructure development path for rural Africa (PowerPath)

Technovative Solutions

Madagascar

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

Nanoé, a French-Malagasy social business, aims to enhance energy access and employment in rural Africa through its innovative Lateral Electrification model. In the PowerPath project, Nanoé collaborates with Technovative Solutions Limited, the University of Lancaster, TWI Limited, and The Power Hub Limited to develop a groundbreaking technological concept. This concept clusters smaller power infrastructures, ranging from solar nanogrids to DC microgrids, to deliver intensified energy services in a stable and abundant manner through solar power. The PowerPath business model not only addresses technological challenges but also focuses on training community members, without gender discrimination, to become technically skilled agents, aligning with sustainable development goals SDG-7, SDG-8, and SDG-13.

Energy Makers Academy: A mobile learning platform for universities to train rural energy innovators

Open Energy Labs

Kenya

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

At a minimum, solar home systems (SHS) provide access to lighting and phone charging. 1-10 W can power lights to replace kerosene lamps, however, a lack of maintenance or after-sales services exacerbated by harsh operating conditions often cause these SHS systems to fail. In Laos alone, the failure rate reached 65%, making it a key barrier to sub-Saharan Africa’s uptake of renewable energy.

Open Energy Labs, Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership (TEA-LP) (a network of African universities), and Strathmore University are developing existing technology suitable for universities to teach rural, remote and disabled students how to design, build and maintain a SHS. Open Energy Labs will test its updated software training platform and hardware with 100 users in Kenya – where 40% of people in rural areas lack access to electricity – to test the viability of this solution. “

Star-Light: Smart Street lighting for safety and security to women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa.

Open Energy Labs

Zambia

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Good public lighting contributes to citizens feeling safer and can help reduce the risk of gender-based harassment and violence. Cities across sub-Saharan Africa are often dimly lit due to factors including inefficient street lighting, financial challenges and deficient operation. Star-Light solves these challenges by using solar power and offering affordable, flat-pack streetlights that are easy to assemble. The lights feature motion sensors, and its LEDs are 79% cheaper than regular incandescent SLS. This means that the technology conserves energy and lasts 45,000 hours.

This project plans to demonstrate the relationship between streetlighting and gender-based violence in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, the project hopes to ensure the safety of residents, especially women.

Grid Analytics Platform

Orxa Grid

Uganda

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

In sub-Saharan Africa, 600 million still lack access to electricity, costing £29 billion annually, the region faces a 23% energy loss in utilities. OrxaGrid, SCOPE, and Kilembe Investments are collaborating on the Grid Analytics Platform (GAP) aiming to to address this challenge by replacing manual estimations with an IoT system predicting and alerting utilities about losses and outages. OrxaGrid provides network visibility, SCOPE designs IoT devices, and KIL implements the system in Uganda. The project targets enhanced reliability, affordability, and sustainability in electricity distribution, offering a cost-effective solution and quicker consumer onboarding for electricity connections.

Decentralised Energy Market Access And Co-finance (DEMA2C)

Innovation Consultancy & Entrepreneurship

Nigeria

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

Connecting conventional grids to rural and urban areas encounters challenges such as limited coverage, high costs, and unreliable supply. Solar energy can help fill the gap, but deterrents like intermittent supply and high costs exist.
The Decentralised Energy Market Access And Co-finance (DEMA2C) consortium will develop a technology that can supply on-demand green energy to off-grid communities. The technology hopes to achieve this by optimising the link between generation and consumption. It doesn’t require extra panels or expensive storage banks. It also doesn’t rely on fossil-fueled generators.

DEMA2C also seeks to provide an energy-as-a-service model. This model is backed by a unique payment platform that allows investors to track their return on investment in real-time. It is hoped that this will stimulate investment into distributed energy sources and attract investors who have been shying away from microgrids.

Project GANESHA - Getting power Access to rural-Nepal through thermally cooled battery Energy storage for transport and Home Applications

P.A.K. Engineering

Nepal

Energy storage including batteries and mechanical storage

Mid

Round 10

Project GANESHA aims to develop and implement an innovative battery module solution for powering rural small passenger vehicles and off-grid home energy systems in Nepal. The project will use solar-power installations to pilot the innovation in two rural sites with marginal/no grid access.
The project consortium includes three UK and two Nepalese organisations, led by NEVI, a pioneer in retrofitting ICE-rickshaws to EV and renting batteries to low-income communities. The project will overcome the limitations of Nepal’s power grid and distribution by using a removable solution similar to products in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, but with lower cost and higher efficiency.

This project will involve the design, manufacture, and mobilisation of a new module with heat exchanger technology, state-sensor/communications technology, and a specialised payment systems platform reducing capital investment requirements and enabling an optimised rollout.

Cotton Footprint: transitioning the carbon intensive cotton and textiles industry to renewable infrastructure through a whole supply chain approach

Pilio

Pakistan

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Pakistan’s rural communities play a crucial role in farming and producing cotton for the world. The Affordable Clean Energy Farm is an innovative initiative that channels investments from fashion brands, textile manufacturers, and clean cotton networks to mitigate their carbon footprint.

This ongoing project aims to leverage support from Energy Catalyst to establish a sustainable economic model, providing clean energy access to 10 million cotton workers in Pakistan. The focus is on generating a positive ripple effect through various services, such as household energy access, sustainable energy practices on cotton farms, and empowering micro-enterprises to offer energy services and create new markets. As part of this, Pilio is developing a technology platform to measure the impact on carbon reduction, affordable energy adoption, and return on investment. This project will work closely with WWF Pakistan and Better Cotton.

ePowerCart - Affordable Mobile Clean Energy for Remote Communities in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa and India

Power Roll

India

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Power Roll Ltd are developing an affordable, transportable pop-up, ready-to-use energy system, the ‘ePowerCart’. The ultra-low-cost, ultra-lightweight, photovoltaic (PV) thin-film based on micro-groove architecture bonds with flexible PV film to pop-up fabric trailer tents and combine this with remotely managed energy storage.

The project will design and build ePowerCart prototypes for field trials. Among them are a girls’ school in India and a mothers’ shelter in South Zambia.

This initiative will accelerate affordable, reliable, clean energy access for field trial participants and remote communities with similar climates and terrain. Power Roll, The Energy and Resources Institute, India and On Call Africa will work closely with rural communities and organisations in India and Zambia to ensure the solution considers end-user needs as well as the potential impacts on gender equality and social inclusion.

VIETPULSE - Vietnam Intelligent Energy Trading Platform for Upscaling Local energy Storage and EV

Qbots Energy

Vietnam

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

Vietnam Intelligent Energy Trading Platform for Upscaling Local energy Storage and EV (VIETPULSE) is a project that aims to enable the next frontier of electrification in Vietnam, using data and digital technologies to create a smarter electricity grid with renewable energy. The project is led by UK-based Qbots Energy, in collaboration with Eastern International University (EIU) and HTENATECH.

VIETPULSE combines distributed smart control and renewable energy through a localised smart energy marketplace platform, overcoming barriers with innovative energy service models using low-cost IoT technologies. The project targets business/industrial parks in Vietnam with net-zero targets and offers them a Federated Power Plant (FPP) technology that coordinates energy usage, generation and storage, and enables P2P energy trading and grid level services.
With support from Energy Catalyst the project will deliver a validated smart energy trading and optimisation platform, and measure its impact on cost savings, income, and carbon emissions.

LARA: Locally-Appropriate Rural Aquavoltaics for Cost Reduction and Increased Impact for Solar Energy Access in East Africa

Science Technology And Innovation For Development

Tanzania

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

Science Technology and Innovation for Development Ltd aims to address the challenges of solar productive-use power and mini-grid solutions in remote rural areas of Tanzania. The project will develop and test a simple and locally-appropriate approach: floating solar panels above specially-dug ponds. This will reduce the cost and complexity of mounting systems, increase the panel efficiency, and integrate aquaculture for local farmers.

Using low-cost and innovative technology, suitable for small rural mini-grids, the project will fill the gap left by expensive and complex marine solutions. It will also provide economic, social, and environmental benefits for the communities, such as increased income, food security, and reduced emissions, driving greater adoption of clean energy systems in Tanzania and beyond.

Rural off-grid Dairy Value Chain for Energy Access and Income Generation

Science Technology And Innovation For Development

Tanzania

Diesel and petrol generator replacements

Early

Round 10

OMASI, the local NGO partner of Science Technology and Innovation for Development (STI4D), initiated off-grid dairy businesses across the region. Women who sold their milk to the dairy were suddenly empowered. They could sell their milk, buy family essentials in nearby shops, and invest some of the funds in school fees for their children.

These dairies depend on reliable power since so much capital is tied up in products which will quickly spoil if refrigeration fails. A 63 kW diesel generator therefore powered each dairy. Grid supply in Northern Tanzania, however, is unreliable. Clean energy from mini-grids, on the other hand, is a more reliable power source. As traditional mini-grids struggle with the high and variable dairy loaad, STI4D and OMASI aim to develop cost-effective technology for clean and reliable power, ensuring sustained dairy operations. The same technology approach could also support other high-power productive use anchor loads in communities.

Feasibility Study to increase access and affordability of clean-energy - A Case Study of Kioa Island, Fiji

Sdg Changemakers

Fiji

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Early

Round 10

The Pacific Climate Change Science Program reports a yearly sea-level rise of 7-10 mm in the Pacific region. This exposes Pacific Island nations to elevated risks such as rising sea levels, intensified extreme weather events, ocean acidification, and threatening ecosystems, infrastructure, food security, and livelihoods.
Despite this vulnerability, only 15% of the Pacific Islands’ energy is from renewables. In this feasibility study, SDG Changemakers aims to expedite access to affordable, clean energy by collaborating with communities, UN departments, and micro-financing providers. The Energy Catalyst supported project looks at clean energy for food production and processing to find sustainable business models that help communities grow.

Renewable ENergy Demand Assessment and eNtrepreneurial Growth (RENDANG) for Energy Access in Malaysia

Smart Villages Research Group

Malaysia

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Despite Malaysia’s considerable urban development and high electrification rates, roughly 200 villages in the remote Orang Asli communities in West Malaysia remain under-electrified. The initiative, a collaboration between Smart Villages Research Group (SVRG), Energy Action Partners (ENACT), and the Community Energy Toolkit (COMET) team, integrates COMET’s predictive capabilities with mobile mini-grids. The Community Energy Toolkit assesses demand, while the mobile mini-grid provides quick electrification, fostering demand for cost-effective Clustered Solar Home Systems (CSHSes). With Energy Catalysts’ support, this model bridges the gap between community engagement and permanent solutions, sustaining interest and gradually growing energy demand. Successful validation in Malaysia could pave the way for worldwide application, addressing global energy access needs and aligning with SDG targets.

Renewable Energy Agro-Processing Hubs for Energy Access and Economic Development in Rural Rwanda

Smart Villages Research Group

Rwanda

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Addressing issues of low energy access in rural communities is vital for improving livelihoods and renewable energy has the potential to dramatically transform communities which lack reliable and affordable energy. The REAP (Renewable Energy Agro-Processing) hub project aims to provide sustainable access to renewable energy and enhance food production capacities in rural communities. The project will develop locally-tailored solutions for remote areas, through community engagement and needs assessment. In collaboration with Smart Villages Research Group and NjordFrey the project will deploy renewable energy technologies for high-yield fish and vegetable production. A digital monitoring system optimizes energy and production demands, promoting efficiency and cost reduction. In addition to, supporting progress towards SDG7 and SDG13 REAP integrates energy into productive systems – fostering economic growth, employment opportunities, and improved incomes.

End-to-End Solar Borehole Business Models and Data Collection to Extend Sustainable Access to Energy and Water in Rural Tanzania

Smart Villages Research Group

Tanzania

Diesel and petrol generator replacements

Mid

Round 10

Smart Villages Research Group (SVRG) and OMASI collaborated on an Energy Catalyst Round 9 project in Tanzania developing technology to encourage community repayments for solar borehole power systems. This project will continue the development of a system that utilises pay-as-you-go technology, cutting off power for non-payment, with diesel generators ensuring continuous water access. Previous research and initial community engagement revealed water as the highest priority. The technology, tested as part of Energy Catalyst Round 9 support not only facilitates borehole repayments but could extend to financing new borehole drilling, marking a shift to private sector involvement. Immediate impact includes completing operational boreholes in communities lacking funds for generators or pumps, enabling rapid repayment.

Innovative Agricultural Cross-Subsidised Financing of Access to Clean Energy and Sustainable Cooling with Smart Agri-Centres in Uganda

Smart Villages Research Group

Uganda

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Late

Round 10

Smart Villages Research Group (SVRG) is a UK-based company that developed the SmartAgri-Centre (SAC) – a solar-power plant with services for rural communities in Uganda. The SAC provides energy access, economic opportunities, and improves agricultural productivity for local farmers. The project has delivered positive social and environmental impact, including increased incomes, savings, yields, and gender equality. The Energy Catalyst funded project aims to extend the SAC model to more communities. It seeks to identify the best business model and community engagement strategy for the community to repay the SAC costs. To achieve this, SVRG and partners will build and operate six SACs in new communities, testing different models, to find the most effective way to scale the technology, with a view to measuring success, impact and return.

Unlocking the Potential of Solar Heating in sub-Sahara Africa: Optimising Product Design and Establishing Local Manufacturing Capacity

Solariskit

Rwanda

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Late

Round 10

SolarisKit has developed the world’s first flat-packed, self-assembled solar thermal collector. This device can convert sunlight into heat, reducing the need for traditional fuels like wood and charcoal that contribute to deforestation and carbon emissions in Africa. The solar collector can be easily assembled, transported, and manufactured locally, supporting local job creation and the solar thermal industry.

SolarisKit aims to advance the market adoption of the thermal solar collector in Africa, where there is abundant sunshine and potential for positive impact. The Energy Catalyst funded project will build solar collector manufacturing capacity in Rwanda and Ghana, establish a long-term partnership between UK-based SolarisKit and its Africa-based partners, to develop a sustainable and scalable business model. The project seeks to unlock the vast potential of solar energy in Africa and other sunbelt regions, to benef people and the planet.

Li-Ion Battery Storage Circularity For Africa By Africa for Low-Carbon E-Mobility E-Agriculture and mini-grids

Science Technology And Innovation For Development

Uganda

Energy storage including batteries and mechanical storage

Mid

Round 10

Soleil Power is implementing a project to build high-quality two-wheeled EV batteries. These batteries are designed for repurposing into affordable and scalable second-life products that can be deployed off-grid or as backup power. Soleil Power will build on existing partnerships to test these products and build a two-wheeled EV and battery swapping/charging infrastructure.

Much of the cost associated with repurposing EV battery products depends on the complexity of disassembly, testing and rebuilding used battery modules. The new designs will streamline and accelerate this process.

Empowering impactful development across rural Malawi through clean Energy HUBs

Steama Company

Malawi

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Late

Round 10

Malawi’s installed solar energy systems succumb to operation and maintenance (O&M) shortcomings. Many installations are not taken care of and stop functioning after just 2-3 years despite a technical lifetime of 15-20 years.

Differ Community Power provides reliable energy services to schools and health facilities. In Malawi, Differ Community Power with SteamaCo has more than 100 sites in operation, and at all these sites, there is excess energy. This project seeks to use this energy to solve some of Malawi’s challenges around lack of school completion, unemployment and energy access. This project will sell excess electricity services to off-takers for cooling as a service for agriculture proceeds, energy for households and milling services for farmers. The project also provides earning opportunities for specialists to maintain the solar energy systems at the health facilities.

Project RICE (Renewable, Inclusive, Carbon-positive Energy)

Straw Innovations

Philippines

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Modern agriculture is highly dependent on fossil fuels and rural, smallholder farmers in remote areas across Africa and Asia often pay more than double for diesel-fuel and fertilisers. This high cost comes with further challenges such as waste-heat from engines, voliatilisation from festilisers and increased carbon emissions. Straw Innovations is working to address these challenges by focusing on the world’s number 1 food crop, rice.

Operating in the Philippines, Straw Innovations has created a suite of technologies for collecting rice straw at harvest time, avoiding field burning/rotting, which accounts for almost half of rice emissions. In this project, they will convert their ‘straw-catcher’ machine to run on solar-PV electricity/batteries instead of diesel.

Women Entrepreneurs Powering Communities with Productive Use of Renewable Energy in Tanzania

Re 5

Pakistan

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

In the Thar Desert located in the arid region of the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, 16.6 million people lack reliable electricity access, relying on polluting diesel generators. Thari women, engaged in intricate crafts, face challenges due to manual stitching in the absence of electric machines. With support from Energy Catalyst SolarERA aims to provide an electrification solution by introducing off-grid electricity and electric sewing/craft machines by 2026. This initiative empowers Thari women, catalysing economic growth through enhanced productivity. The resulting economic model facilitates microfinance investment for SolarERA pico-grids, fostering downstream benefits in health, education, and connectivity. Project partners anticipate substantial job growth, economic activity, and revenue, while preserving Thari crafts skills and establishing leadership in off-grid solar solutions.

Powering the Future: Revolutionising Access and Efficiency through Integrated and Sustainable Energy Solutions

The Sure Chill Company

Nigeria

Next generation solar technologies and business models

Late

Round 10

SureChill and GreenPower Overseas Ltd are experts in off-grid refrigeration and power solutions. The companies partnered to launch the “Powering the Future,” initiative to provide reliable, clean, and affordable cooling and lighting to underserved communities in Nigeria. The initiative offers two solutions: the first combines the SureChill SDD fridge energy harvesting system with a Solar Home System (SHS) to optimise energy use and provide electricity access. The second integrates the energy harvesting system, remote controller, and a unique payment model into an Energy Management System Control Hub, giving users real-time control over energy consumption, remote access to appliances, and flexible payment options. With support from Energy Catalyst, both solutions will be tested, validated, and developed to measure efficiency and effectiveness, to empower underserved communities and support a just and inclusive clean energy transition.

Safely transforming phytoremediation crops into bioenergy

Terra Power

Indonesia

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

Terra Power, a UK-based initiative, collaborates with partners in the UK, UAE, and Indonesia to optimise technology for efficient and safe biogas production using plants grown on contaminated land. With Loughborough University providing research expertise and lab facilities, Zest Associates contributing cleantech commercialization and project leadership, and Nexus3 offering access to test sites and local expertise, the project addresses energy poverty in contaminated areas. By supporting cost-effective, low-carbon energy production, it tackles the energy trilemma and aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 & 15, while adhering to the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Solar And Biogas Off-grid Power (SABOP) for Rwenjeru Agrotourism and Demonstration Farm, Mbarara, Uganda.

Tiwakiki Consulting

Uganda

Diesel and petrol generator replacements

Mid

Round 10

Tiwakiki Consulting Ltd are working to integrate solar photovoltaic power and biomethane from biodigestion of waste biomass to create a 24-hours’ electricity supply mini-grid for the Rwenjeru Agrotourism and Demonstration Farm in Uganda. The project will also implement a renewable milk chiller and develop a business plan for future scale-up.

The project will use a waste-to-energy anaerobic digestion system to process food and agricultural waste into clean renewable energy for the agrotourism business and over 1,000 farmer’s households. A smart mini-grid will be used to measure and optimise the energy usage, generation and storage, and engage with stakeholders to improve energy policy in Uganda. Overall, the project will reduce emissions, improve air quality, increase environmental awareness, enhance security, and improve the quality and quantity of food for the households.

Islanded Wave Powered Microgrid Pilot for Remote Islands in Thailand

Aquatera

Thailand

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

The unit cost of the electricity generated by WPMGs can be significantly reduced by advanced predictive optimal control strategies to improve the wave power output of the WECs in a range of sea states with state-of-the-art power electronic components and novel microgrid energy management systems (EMS). The EMS can significantly reduce the power conversion/distribution losses and use deep-learning-based algorithms to forecast the stochastic loads in varying weather and wave conditions. This project builds on the company’s Round 8 project, which showed the feasibility of enhancing the efficiency of onshore wave energy converters (WECs) and developing advanced wave-powered microgrids (WPMGs) in remote islands of Thailand.

The Energy Catalyst supported project will reduce the cost of electricity from WPMGs by using advanced predictive optimal control strategies, state-of-the-art power electronic components, and novel microgrid energy management systems (EMS) with deep-learning-based algorithms. The project will demonstrate the whole concept in a hybrid system-level wave-to-wire (W2W) WPMG simulator, using Radar-based technology for wave prediction and WEC survivability. The project will increase the technology readiness level (TRL) of the WPMG technologies and provide inclusive community-based renewable energy that addresses the lack of energy access in Thailand and other SE Asia countries.

Powering Uganda's Clean Energy Future: Biomethane Technology and Innovation for Clean Cooling in Rural Uganda (BioCool)

University Of Leeds

Uganda

Sustainable cooling

Early

Round 10

In Uganda, it was estimated that around 2.5 million people would not have enough food in 2023, with this figure likely increasing year on year. Roughly 10% of rural populations have access to electricity, which makes it hard to use efficient irrigation systems and storage in agriculture. This leads to post-harvest losses and exacerbates food insecurity.

However, improved cooling systems can tackle these problems and enable better food security. AD produces biomethane, a low-cost and low-carbon fuel that works well for rural, off-grid communities. With biomethane, we can power cold storage units, providing a reliable means of preserving perishable goods. Notably, biomethane production is versatile as various organic materials, such as animal manure and market waste, can be used.

Uganda is one of the few countries using AD technology to provide household cooking and electrification in sub-Saharan Africa, though insufficient feedstock supply and operating maintenance limit adoption and long-term application efforts.
The BioCool project aims to introduce a new Energy as a Service (EaaS) model to tackle this issue by guaranteeing access to reliable, affordable, low-carbon fuel. This model shifts responsibilities to energy providers and ensures customers only pay for the fuel they consume.

Scaling Energy Access through Interconnected Mini-grids - SEAM

Vividgrd

Malawi

Smart green grids including mini and main grid technologies

Mid

Round 10

Energy poverty affects quality of life, hinders business ventures, slows economic development, and disproportionately impacts women and children. In Malawi, 85% of the population lives in rural areas, but the National Grid mainly serves urban areas. As a result, only 1% of people in rural areas have access to electricity, and 62% live below the international poverty line.

Mini-grids, decentralised electrical systems powered by renewable sources like solar and micro-hydro, are vital solutions to addressing the energy access gap. Located in the communities they serve, these mini-grids offer power and support jobs creation in rural communities.
For this project Vividgrd will apply new technology to operate multiple interconnected mini-grid installations on an interconnected distribution network akin to local distribution grids. By removing single points of failure, the system becomes more reliable and can scale as more sites are added over time.

Automatic battery swapping cabinet development for scalability of e-mobility in Uganda

Ion Ventures

Uganda

Other energy access technology

Mid

Round 10

Uganda, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, relies heavily on petrol motorcycles, known as boda-bodas, for transportation. With 70% of the population using these motorcycles regularly, Zembo aims to introduce alternative electric motorcycles to address challenges such as rising fuel costs, noise, and emissions. Using a battery-as-a-service model, Zembo provides affordable electric motorcycles to self-employed drivers, facilitating battery swaps at 30 stations powered by solar and hydropower. This project focuses on developing automatic battery swap stations for faster, efficient swaps, scaling operations, and expanding the solar recharge network. The initiative is the first of its kind in Uganda and will accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, reducing air pollution and CO2 emissions while lowering operational costs.

Piloting Basic Solar Energy Grants for Equitable Access to Energy

Futures Advisory

South Africa,

Leave no one behind technologies and business models

Mid

Round 10

In response to the challenge of providing energy to South Africa’s growing urban informal settlements, the City of Cape Town is exploring a grant-based solution. Facing limitations in existing policies for off-grid services in such areas, the city considers implementing a monthly grant for low-income households without grid electricity. iShack and Zonke Energy, experienced in off-grid solar services, will collaborate on the Basic Energy Grant project, demonstrating its impact on inclusivity and building a case for viable business models. The two-year initiative aims to provide affordable solar energy choices, fostering community engagement, energy democracy, and capacity building, with outcomes monitored by Future Advisory Ltd.