Dec 11, 2019
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) welcomed an additional $16 million commitment from the Swiss Confederation to the Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries Program (SREP), a CIF funding window dedicated to expanding energy access in developing countries.
Switzerland is a founding donor of CIF, supporting investments in renewable energy and energy access.
Through more than $750 million in financing, SREP is empowering transformation in more than 25 low-income countries by demonstrating the economic, social and environmental viability of renewable energy. SREP resources have supported the development of a range of initiatives aimed at electrifying households and fueling economies, including mini-grids, waste-to-energy centers, geothermal facilities, and clean cookstoves.
In addition, SREP deploys CIF’s tried-and-tested business model to help countries improve national policies and existing energy initiatives to meet sustainable development objectives and growing demand for energy. Existing SREP projects are on track to mobilize around $2 billion in funding from partners from the private sector and multilateral development banks, among others.
For example, SREP is partnering with Kenya to develop the country’s abundant geothermal resources and make energy more affordable for end-users. Through financing of $25 million, CIF is mitigating the high costs and high risks associated with the exploration drilling phase of the Menengai Geothermal Development Project, which is helping determine steam resource availability and de-risk the downstream power generation investments.
In Honduras, SREP is financing the delivery of 50,000 low-cost clean cookstoves to families in a country where over 50% of households use firewood to prepare meals. Traditional wood burning cookstoves produce indoor soot and smoke that pose health risks and contribute to as many as 4 million deaths each year worldwide.
Globally, SREP-supported projects are expected to benefit 17.3 million people—equivalent to more than the population of the Netherlands—and deliver 6,700 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year.
Learn more about SREP here.
