According to the International Energy Agency, around 548 million people across Africa—70 percent of the Sub-Saharan population—do not have access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy resources, including electricity. For these marginalized communities, off-grid solutions like solar energy are an effective way to power their homes and offer added economic opportunity.
Benefits
- Supported access to clean and affordable energy for 13 million people
- Improved policies, regulations, and capacity for 40 energy institutions
- Developed and implemented 26 off-grid energy policies and regulations
- Produced 29 papers, studies, and reports to support knowledge management
The four-year Africa Clean Energy (ACE) program, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development (FCDO) office, aims to catalyze a market-based approach in partnership with the private sector to expand clean energy across 14 African countries.
As part of the ACE, Tetra Tech is leading the Africa Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility (ACE-TAF). With a focus on high-quality, stand-alone solar systems, our team is working with the private sector to deliver health, economic, and social benefits to more than 10 million people across Africa.
With more solar power coming to remote areas, this is an important step towards giving communities universal access to electricity by 2025.
Three Focus Areas
Supporting an Enabling Environment
- Assist governments to develop and implement market development policies and regulations
- Help improve quality standards to stimulate private sector investment in the delivery of stand-alone solar systems
Improving and Leveraging Knowledge Management
- Gather and share our expertise in private sector delivery of off-grid solar energy
- Leverage sector knowledge to further the success of the ACE-TAF
Contributing to Regional Donor Coordination
- Promote collaboration between similar initiatives and programs in the sector, like Power Africa, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
- Encourage additional donors to support ACE’s vision of bringing clean energy to remote households across Africa
ACE is delivered in partnership with the International Finance Corporation’s Lighting Global program, the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund’s Renewable Energy and Adaptation to Climate Change Technologies household solar program funded in part by FCDO, the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
