- On the sidelines of the Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Engie Energy Access.
- Engie Global Energy Management & Sales (GEMS) and CarbonClear are partnering to finance access to renewable energy in Africa through the voluntary carbon market.
The electrification of Africa could be supported through carbon credits. The partnership between Engie Energy Access, a division of the Engie group that offers decentralized electricity access solutions in Africa, Engie Global Energy Management & Sales (GEMS), the company’s energy management and sales division, and CarbonClear, a sustainable development consulting firm and a division of the EcoAct group, was signed on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
The agreement aims to utilize the $2 billion global potential of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to finance electrification in Africa. In accordance with the cooperation, CarbonClear will validate the carbon offsets produced by the solar kits provided by Engie Energy Access to remote and off-grid communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This methodology is “novel and totally digital.”
GEMS will thereafter offer these credits to companies looking to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while also contributing to the funding of initiatives with significant positive social and environmental impacts. This alternative is already being utilized to finance clean cooking access, which is seen as the “poor cousin” of financing for energy access in Africa. Actors like Ecosphere+, a provider of nature-based offset options, and Aera, a French carbon credit trader for Africa, use the voluntary carbon market.
According to Huart, the agreement will enable the certification of carbon credits equal to almost 500,000 metric tons of CO2. Engie hopes to electrify 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa using conventional financing by 2025.
Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Benin, and most recently Nigeria are the key countries where the company operates in rural areas. Engie facilitates the electrification of remote and difficult-to-reach locations by distributing solar kits, installing solar photovoltaic mini grids, and installing containerized solar systems through its subsidiaries Fenix International, Mobisol, and Engie PowerCorner.