The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa re-launches the Call for Proposals in Mozambique to accelerate clean off-grid energy access

The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa is accepting proposals until August 31st from private off-grid energy service companies that want to expand their business and accelerate access to clean and affordable off-grid energy for customers in peri-urban and rural areas of Mozambique, as agreed by the Government of Mozambique. The indicative size of each individual contract per mini-grid cluster (concession area) is expected to be between EUR 2.0 and 2.5 million.

“Sweden is supporting Mozambique in reaching universal access to modern energy services through the development of the off-grid renewable energy market by applying a ‘leave-no-one-behind’ approach. Increased investment in off-grid solutions is important for reaching underserved communities and hence enable and stimulate private sector investment in renewable energy sources,” comments Mette Sunnergren, Sweden’s Ambassador to Mozambique.

The Mozambique country programme, funded by Sweden, has been developed in collaboration with the Government through FUNAE (Fundo de Energia) and the Energy Regulatory Authority (ARENE).

“FUNAE is encouraged to see BGFA supporting the development of mini-grids in Mozambique. I believe this step will allow us to further gauge the interest of private actors in participating in the off-grid sector. Furthermore, this step is a continuation of the action that has already been taken and we need to acknowledge that current stakeholders continue to support the private sector in the mini-grid segment, encourage its participation and build partnerships,” says Manuela Rebelo, CEO of FUNAE.

“We were pleased to learn of BGFA’s interest in promoting and financing private participation in the rural electrification of our country. The new legal and regulatory framework for off-grid electrification aims to promote and facilitate private investment, recognising the challenges that this represents. In collaboration with its partners, the Government is working to face the challenges of rural electrification. ARENE now has access to the initial instruments necessary to oversee private sector activity, and we are open to supporting this process,” says Paulo Da Graça, CEO and Chairman, ARENE.

Companies working in the off-grid sector with experience of deploying and operating mini-grids to provide energy services at specified sites are invited to apply for funding. Standalone solar home solutions can only be offered as a complementary solution to mini-grid-based solutions for customers that will not be connected to the mini-grid(s) at the specified sites. Projects proposing the deployment of exclusively standalone solutions are not eligible for BGFA2 funding.

“We are happy to finally re-launch our funding round in Mozambique, which was initially launched in 2021 but paused pending publication of off-grid policy and other related regulations. We hope that this BGFA2 Call will provide a testing ground for the new regulatory regime, which has just been published by the Government of Mozambique,” comments Kari Hämekoski, Senior Programme Manager at Nefco.

For further information about the Call for Proposals:

• Visit the BGFA2 funding round page and register for the online application system to apply for funding at beyondthegrid.africa/register
• Download the Application Guidelines in English for more information on the application process and eligibility criteria.

Source: Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa