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Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership

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The logo of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), including tagline "Investing in Clean Energy Markets"

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is a Vienna-based international organisation that advances markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets and developing countries. Its primary focus is in de-risking and scaling up clean energy business models.

REEEP was originally launched by the government of the United Kingdom, along with other partners, at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in August 2002.

REEEP stands as a unique partnership dedicated to accelerating the transition towards sustainable energy solutions. It aims to mobilise financing to build dynamic, sustainable markets and ultimately make clean energy technology accessible and affordable for peri-urban and rural populations. Through a combination of financial instruments, capacity building, facilitation of stakeholder cooperation and technical assistance, REEEP’s programmes fill financing and knowledge gaps and drive private sector investment, enabling frontier markets to thrive. REEEP works closely with stakeholders across the public and private sectors to ensure holistic programme design and implementation are rooted in local needs, decreasing risk in clean energy investment to create long-lasting ecosystem change.

Origins

In 2002, accelerating the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies was one of the priorities of a large group of countries at the WSSD. Margaret Beckett, then UK Minister for the Environment announced the initiative to form REEEP at the summit's closing session. It grew from an agreement with other committed governments, businesses and NGOs to deliver WSSD commitments others, in particular to take forward the key recommendations of the G8 Renewable Energy Task Force.

From January 2003 until May 2004, the REEEP was housed within the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) where it continued following the UN Type II Partnership[1] process of stakeholder consultation. In June 2004, REEEP obtained formal, legal non-profit status as an international NGO and has since been located at the UN complex in Vienna, Austria. In 2016, REEEP was granted status as a quasi-international organisation in Austria, along with four other organisations.

REEEP's approach

REEEP advocates for global initiatives outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly emphasizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy while combating climate change and enhancing resilience. Its endeavours extend to addressing food security, environmental preservation, poverty eradication, gender equality and fostering economic growth, particularly in underserved regions.

REEEP's primary focus is on advancing clean energy solutions for off-grid and distributed small-scale power systems, as well as promoting the productive utilization of clean energy within agricultural and food value chains. Operating on a global scale, its current emphasis is on low- and lower-middle-income nations across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

REEEP's strength lies in its extensive global network of experts and collaborators. Through its diverse programs, the organization fosters collaboration among governments, international entities, the private sector, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), civil society, and local stakeholders. These partnerships are designed to endure beyond REEEP's direct involvement, ensuring sustainable and impactful outcomes on the ground.

REEEP's distinctive methodology relies on extensive on-the-ground experience and the nimbleness and expertise of its small team, allowing for innovation, adaptation, and rapid program design unmatched by larger organizations. The organization serves as a trailblazer, identifying market needs to develop and implement groundbreaking initiatives that bolster local markets. Once proven successful, these initiatives can be scaled up and replicated across multiple regions.

A notable example of this approach is the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ), which has garnered recognition with awards such as the Ashden and UN Global Climate Action Award. BGFZ successfully provided over one million Zambians with access to affordable and reliable off-grid energy solutions, In 2019 the programme was expanded into the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), with the goal of connecting 8.6 million people across six sub-Saharan African countries by 2028.

To date[when?] the organisation has been funded primarily by governments including: Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, The United States and the European Commission.

Market Supporting Measures

In the 20 years since its launch, REEEP has accumulated significant experience and comprehension of market development, shaping a distinctive approach to achieving catalytic impact.

REEEP designs and executes holistic market interventions aimed at addressing barriers, tailoring programs to match prevailing market conditions and maturity stages, utilizing established tools or innovating where necessary.

Collaborating with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), REEEP facilitates the widespread adoption of clean energy solutions, leveraging proven technologies demonstrated through pilot demonstrations or successful deployments in various countries. The organization supports SMEs in refining and validating business models, orchestrating effective use of public (donor) finance to aid sector expansion, and ensuring the availability of private financing to sustain market growth as public support diminishes. Additionally, REEEP lays the groundwork for larger-scale multi-country programs based on successful market engagements.

While predominantly focusing on supply-side measures, REEEP maintains a strong emphasis on addressing demand-side energy needs and ensuring market sustainability. Through comprehensive market scoping, REEEP identifies market and community needs and explores opportunities to address suppressed demand through support and de-risking measures for SMEs, alongside improving market conditions. When selecting companies for support, REEEP ensures they possess a coherent understanding of the market and demand, appropriate business models and solutions, implementation capacity, and plans for marketing and awareness-raising, while emphasizing high-quality standards and advancing gender equality across operations and market impact.

Securing suitable finances stands out as a key challenge for clean energy SMEs, particularly in frontier markets where many fail in the "valley of death" between seed funding and scaling. Hence, REEEP plays a crucial role in designing public and private financial instruments and collaborates with governments and key stakeholders on relevant policy and regulation. Additionally, REEEP collects and disseminates market intelligence to better inform decision-making by public and private stakeholders, emphasizing the regulatory role's importance in ensuring consumer protection, pollution control, and strategic planning of national energy systems as markets grow.

This approach has been refined through collaborations with a wide partnership network comprising governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, research institutes, think tanks, and academia. REEEP's extensive network enables it to develop intentional relationships with key market stakeholders, addressing gaps to facilitate market growth.

This holistic perspective, devoid of vested interests and considering the needs of all stakeholders, aligns with REEEP's status as a not-for-profit Quasi-International Organization (QuIO). Coupled with its agility, impossible for larger organizations to match, this sets REEEP apart within its field.

REEEP employs 6 key levers to advance market development

  • Design public (donor)-funded financial instruments leveraging private finance
  • Structure private financial instruments to ensure availability of adapted and affordable private finance
  • Support SMEs to refine their business models and accelerate deployment at scale
  • Support SMEs in accessing private finance both locally and on international markets
  • Work with governments and key stakeholders to create an enabling environment
  • Collect and disseminate market intelligence to help private stakeholders make better informed decisions

Projects and Programmes

In the first phase of its existence (2002-2014) REEEP acted largely as a re-granting institution, funding nearly 200 projects. The majority have targeted emerging markets such as India, China, South Africa and Brazil.

These REEEP projects attempted to address two key barriers to clean energy development, and gather and aggregate information on them:

  • Policy and regulation: promoting clear government policies and favourable, transparent and stable regulatory frameworks that will encourage long-term investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency
  • Innovative finance and business models: supporting new forms of financing, risk mitigation and business models to make small-sized renewable and energy efficient projects bankable.

reegle (in lower-case) was a clean energy information portal designed to provide easy access to highly reliable information on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The website draws information from eight different open data sources such as the World Bank, UNdata, OpenEI, the CIA Factbook, and the REEEP Sustainable Energy Regulation Network publications to provide understanding of energy issues.

reegle was developed by REEEP in collaboration with REN21, and was funded by the governments of Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom. As of March 2012, the website attracted an average of 220,000 users per month. During 2011, 59% of its users came from Africa and Asia, underlining the site's character as an information resource for developing countries and emerging markets. reegle was an advocate of the Linked Open Data movement, which seeks to make public data available on the web in open formats that are machine-readable.

Since 2014, REEEP dramatically focused its work toward the targeted "de-risking" of specific markets and sectors, such as solar-powered irrigation systems in East Africa, solar-powered dairy cooling in Bangladesh, or innovative decentralized mini-grid models in Tanzania.

REEEP applies its market development approach flexibly, demonstrating the ability to adapt rapidly to varying country contexts. Its global mandate prioritizes regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. In 2024, REEEP is engaged in activities across Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nepal, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Additionally, through the Private Financing Advisory Network, REEEP extends its presence to low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands.

Operating within these regions, REEEP directs its efforts where there is specific interest, committed partners, and tangible opportunities. The organization's focus extends to low- and middle-income countries, as per the World Bank classification, with a per capita GDP of up to USD 4,000. Exceptions may arise in cases where a country serves as a regional trailblazer, warranting special consideration.

As a co-host and implementation partner, REEEP is instrumental in managing two significant programmes: The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), which incentivizes off-grid energy service providers to expedite access to affordable clean energy, and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN), which offers project preparation assistance and investment facilitation for clean energy and climate adaptation enterprises. Additionally, the organization provides first-loss loan reserves and facilitates the development of green lending capabilities within local financial institutions to enable the provision of affordable financing for energy access, small-scale renewables and energy efficiency initiatives. Notable initiatives include the Austria Nepal Blended Finance Facility and the Southern African Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING), which channel climate finance towards clean energy businesses, particularly those utilizing solar technologies in Tanzania and Zambia.

Partners

Currently REEEP has 385 partners, 45 of which are governments, including all the G7 countries and key government agencies from India and China, other emerging markets and the developing world. Partners also include a range of businesses, NGOs and civil society organisations.

REEEP operates within a diverse constellation of players, and collaborates with other international structures and organisations to maximise replication and minimise duplication of efforts. Among other organisations, REEEP is actively engaged with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), MEDREP, the Global Village Energy Partnership [2] (GVEP), CLASP, the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition (JREC), GNESD, EREC, NAIMA, EURIMA, e-parliament and GFSE.

See also

References

  1. ^ "United Nations Division for Sustainable Development - Partnerships for Sustainable Development". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  2. ^ "Energy 4 Impact". Energy For Impact. Archived from the original on 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
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