Funding for solar and wind energy projects in developing countries
In order to bring additionality to consumers’ choice of renewable energy and help realise SDG 7 (affordable, clean energy for all), the EKOenergy ecolabel raises funds for new renewable electricity projects in developing countries and regions. For each MWh of sold EKOenergy-labelled energy, our licensed sellers pay 0.10 € to EKOenergy’s Climate Fund. These contributions go to carefully selected renewable electricity projects aimed at alleviating energy poverty in developing countries and regions (see more about our Climate Fund).
The projects we finance via our Climate Fund are usually small-scale solar (PV) and wind energy projects. All financed projects are managed by experienced organisations and are implemented in cooperation with local NGOs.
We are now looking for 4-8 projects of 15,000 to 30,000 € each. We invite organisations to submit project proposals by 7 March 2021. The 15 best proposals will be invited to submit more information in April 2021.
The reporting procedure will be specified in the contract between EKOenergy and the beneficiary, and will depend on the size of the project and the local conditions.
Please note that there will be a second call for projects this year in cooperation with the Siemenpuu Foundation, only for projects in Myanmar, Mali and Nepal. (UPDATE: That call with the Siemenpuu Foundation has been opened on 18 February and can be found on the Siemenpuu Foundation’s website)
Project proposals should follow the guidelines below:
- The project proposal should be written in English and sent as a pdf document of maximum 3 pages to ekoenergyfunds@sll.fi
The application should mention:
- The implementing organisation’s experience in the field of renewable energy.
- The implementing organisation’s bookkeeping and resources: What is your annual budget and what are the main sources of income? How is your bookkeeping audited?
- How much capacity will be installed and how many people will benefit from it? The used materials should fulfill the safety and quality requirements of the relevant IEC standards (https://www.iec.ch/renewables/), the GOGLA Quality Standard or equivalent quality criteria.
- How do you plan to communicate about the project? How will you communicate at local level, in the country where the project is being implemented? And how can you help us share the news about your project towards energy consumers in general and users of EKOenergy-labelled energy in particular?
- How will the project be followed-up after the installation?
- What is the impact on the local community? (including links with the UN Sustainable Development Goals). How is the local community involved in the project?
Evaluation of the applications
We will evaluate the applications based on the extent to which it fulfills these criteria:
- Experience, solvency and reliability of the main applicant + strong involvement of local organizations/NGOs (20%)
- Strong, demonstrated links with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (20%)
- Quality and efficiency of the project: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, impact (20%)
- Long term viability, sustainability and replicability of the project (20%)
- Opportunities for advertising the benefits of renewable energy and informing the users of EKOenergy-labelled energy how their contributions are being spent. (20%)
