Energy 4 Impact has signed a contract with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to provide advisory services to mini-grid developers under Power Africa’s Beyond the Grid initiative. The contract runs from now until September 2018.
Energy 4 Impact will support NREL’s ongoing work on its Quality Assurance Framework for mini-grids and provide advisory services to a small group of micro-grid developers operating in sub-Saharan Africa. Energy 4 Impact will organize workshops to validate different aspects of the Quality Assurance Framework and support the development of standardized products and tools to facilitate market development.
The advisory services offered will include community assessment, reviews of technical design and business models, access to finance, support for the productive use of energy in mini-grids, and piloting of the Quality Assurance Framework.
Besides conducting advisory engagements with mini-grid developers, Energy 4 Impact will apply, test and train developers in the use of the Quality Assurance Framework, which has been designed to improve the safety, quality, and financial viability of mini-grid power systems to remote customers.