Contribution to international development: report 2021 to 2023

6. Renewable Energy and Climate

In line with SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action), IDF funded projects in renewable energy have supported: the provision of energy for vulnerable communities in Malawi; and an initiative to encourage knowledge exchange between Scottish, Rwandan, Zambia, and Malawian institutions in the sector to increase the deployment of sustainable energy.

6.1 ODA Spend

In the reporting period, the IDF has supported a number of Renewable Energy initiatives, including:

• Rural Energy Access through Social Enterprise and Decentralisation (EASE): see Case Study RE1 below; and
• Establishment of the Scottish Government Global Renewable Energy Centre and its partners in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia (the GRC): see Case Study RE2 below.

6.2 Case Studies

Case Study RE1: Rural Energy Access through Social Enterprise and Decentralisation - University of Strathclyde, Self Help Africa , Community Energy Malawi (CEM) and WASHTED

The Rural Energy Access through Social Enterprise and Decentralisation (EASE) project works to address energy poverty in marginalised communities in Malawi by deploying renewable energy systems under sustainable social business models and piloting District Energy Officers in Dedza and Balaka to support local energy planning and deployment. The project supports SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy as well as national policy targets for energy access and decentralised governance.

Key achievements of EASE in this reporting period include:

• Installation of 2 solar PV microgrids serving 126 customers, which support connections for 646 households, 37 businesses, 2 schools and 2 churches. 20 of the households and businesses connected customers are women-headed. The Balaka Energy Hub powers an irrigation scheme, cold room and 3 co-located PUE business. 125 irrigation scheme members (50m, 75f) directly benefit. The Dedza school Energy Hub serves classrooms, offices, and 8 Teachers houses.
• Capacity-building by CEM’s District Energy Officer pilot programme provided renewable energy training and ongoing support to 20 local technicians, 170 local government extension workers from Agriculture, Education, Health and Community Development sectors, plus 280 employees of local NGOs actively supporting these areas.

Bernadetta Banda is one of the site agents employed at the Mthembanji solar PV microgrid and she relates how her life has changed by working at the microgrid site: “Before the job I was […] depending on my husband for everything. But now I am happy that I can contribute and support my family's financial needs. As a woman I am empowered and I now have confidence in myself.”

You can read more about the EASE project in the 2020-21 Contribution to International Development Report.

Case Study RE2: The Scottish Government Global Renewables Centre (GRC) - University of Strathclyde and new GRC partners in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia

The Scottish Global Renewables Centre (GRC) was launched by the Scottish Government during the Sustainable Energy For All (SEforALL) Forum, in Kigali in May 2022. ^[26] The GRC is hosted online by Strathclyde University and funded by the Scottish Government.

The vision of the GRC is to provide a hub for facilitating knowledge exchange between stakeholders in the Scottish Government’s international development partner countries, Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda, and the Scottish renewables sector. In particular, to offer networking, shared learning, and resources that enhance global citizenship and enables increased deployment of sustainable energy.

The GRC has cross-cutting (nexus) themes of 1) leadership from the Global South, 2) climate justice, and 3) gender mainstreaming embedded in its strategy to help ensure that the GRC's initiatives are more equitable, inclusive, and effective in achieving the objective of increased deployment of renewable energy.

The SDG 7 target of affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all remains a significant challenge globally and the GRC aims to enable collaboration to address the unique challenges faced by each partner country, including Scotland.

By the end of 2023, the GRC had conducted stakeholder engagement and eco-system mapping in all partner countries, determining a set of key priorities and knowledge exchange themes.

Although each country is starting from different baselines of energy access and renewable energy adoption, and has policy and strategy frameworks shaped to their specific country priorities, common challenges have emerged. These include:

• increasing energy access to marginalised communities through renewable energy minigrids and distributed generation;
• increased deployment of solar PV for Commercial and Industrial loads (both on-grid and off-grid);
• improved business models and investment frameworks; increased female participation in the energy sector; and
• diversification and improved resilience of energy sources in the face of climate change.

Formal partnerships have now been established (December 2023) between the Scottish GRC and: the Renewable Energy Association of Malawi; the Zambian Renewable Energy Association; and the Energy Private Developers Association of Rwanda. Through these partnerships, local GRC hubs are being established to take forward targeted knowledge exchange activities, building networks of experts and forming communities or practice around the GRC knowledge exchange themes.

The GRC and its partners will continue to form a key part of our contribution to our partner countries on SDG7 access to clean energy beyond 2023, with IDF funding supporting the Malawian, Rwandan and Zambian partners in the GRC partnership.

6.3 Cross-Scottish-Government Policy Initiatives

Wider Scottish Government policy initiatives on renewable energy that contribute to international development, as part of our commitment on policy coherence for sustainable development:

• The Scottish Government's commitment to ending Scotland’s contribution to global emissions as soon as possible, and by 2045 at the latest is unwavering. We’ve already made significant progress to get halfway to our goal of becoming net zero by 2045 and have decarbonised faster than the UK average and leading on the international stage, in particular around loss and damage, recognising that climate change cannot be addressed by domestic action alone. Scotland is at the leading edge of the global renewable energy industry, and power has been largely decarbonised. For instance, 87.8% electricity generation coming from zero or low carbon sources in 2022.
• The collaboration between the Scottish Government’s Minister for Europe, Culture and International Development and the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, on establishing a Global Renewables Centre (as above) to work with its international development partner countries on exchanging knowledge and research in renewable technologies is a key example of policy coherence in action within the Scottish Government.
• The Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan sets out our vision that, by 2045, Scotland will have a flourishing, climate-friendly energy system that delivers affordable, resilient and clean energy supplies for Scotland’s households, communities and businesses. Scotland’s green jobs revolution is already underway, and we must ensure that workers have access to the reskilling and upskilling opportunities they need to enable them to take on the green jobs of the future. Knowledge exchange and close working relations with partners, including in the Global South, is key as Scotland scales up our renewable energy ambitions and takes action to transform and expand Scotland’s energy generation sector.