Content Type: Capital Investment / Enterprise Finance
Inspira farms
Summary
Over the last four years, innovations supported by the Ayrton Fund have helped create and supported 210,000 sustainable long-term jobs in the clean energy market primarily across Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside impacts in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and increasingly through local businesses.
Behind that headline figure are real people, skills and livelihoods that underpin the transition to a low-carbon economy and wider systems change. The Ayrton Fund Green Jobs Insights Study explores how clean energy innovation is creating and supporting jobs across emerging markets, and the systems needed to measure this impact effectively. Alongside the report, our short films showcase how this translates on the ground, with stories from BURN Manufacturing in Kenya and InspiraFarms bringing these impacts to life.
The Accelerate-to-Demonstrate (A2D) facility is part of the wider Clean Energy Innovation Facility (CEIF) funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) , and also aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies in developing countries with a focus on critical minerals, clean hydrogen and cross-cutting themes such smart energy and industrial decarbonisation.
Clean Energy Innovation Facility (CEIF) is a programme funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) that aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies in developing countries in key themes. The existing CEIF 1.0 programme under the platform focuses on industrial decarbonisation, sustainable cooling, smart energy, and energy storage.
Programme designed to improve access to affordable clean energy among Pacific Island Countries. It includes an initial UK investment of £3.5m to deliver renewable energy to the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea in partnership with Australia. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The Global Innovation Fund invests in innovations with the greatest potential for social impact, regardless of sector or geography, and that benefit people living on less than $5/day in developing countries, including some innovations in the clean energy sector. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Regional programme including a Challenge Fund supporting start-ups or expansion of household solar energy businesses in nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and supporting the deployment of mini grids through the African Development Bank. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). This programme is now closed, but contact Matthew Rees in FCDO Africa Directorate if you have any questions.
A Multi Donor innovation challenge fund that focuses on innovations in humanitarian contexts caused by conflict. This includes research and development into adaptation and adoption of new clean energy technologies such as sustainable energy solutions though solar mini-grids, clean cooking, solar powered health services, and innovative financing mechanisms, in countries affected by conflict or displacement. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Africa Regional Climate and Nature (ARCAN) Programme
Announced at COP26 in Glasgow, this regional programme supports the World Bank’s Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SMRI) to demonstrate renewable energy technologies with storage at scale, and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to support clean generation capacity by pairing battery storage alongside solar, wind, and other technologies, and support smart grid systems and clean cooking. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Country programme that expands rural household energy access by catalysing private sector innovation and investment and government support in Mozambique. It aims to increase domestic and business energy solutions through the supply of household solar, mini-grids, and improved cooking technologies. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Programme focused on the development, testing, and deployment of methodologies that encourage innovation and use of technologies to address development challenges, including in the clean energy access sector. This programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
