Innovative Financing Models to Scale Energy Access

Today, I am excited to publish the concept paper for Emios Energy Ventures — a blended-finance and financial technology model I designed earlier this year while working with clean energy operators, investors, and institutions in East Africa. This project began with a simple question: How do you finance early-stage clean energy assets in markets where currency volatility, slow repayment cycles, and thin deal sizes discourage institutional investors? As I gained deeper experience in the startup ecosystem from building technical pipelines, to structuring loan products, to evaluating investment readiness, I became increasingly fascinated by technology-enabled financial solutions, digital banking systems, and reserve-stabilization mechanisms that can unlock new types of capital flows. Emios Energy Ventures represents my attempt to combine these interests into a coherent model. The paper outlines: 1. A blended finance structure designed to lower capital costs for clean energy SMEs. 2. A pipeline for IoT-supported performance monitoring, allowing investors to validate cash flow and operational reliability. 3. A micro-scale debt facility architecture that improves access to working capital in markets where commercial credit is prohibitively expensive. 4. And most importantly, a proposed dynamic stablecoin reserve, designed to hedge currency risk, maintain liquidity, and create predictable investor exits by allocating reserves across safe, regulated financial instruments. This reserve mechanism is the part I am most proud of. It allowed me to merge macroeconomics, portfolio theory, and practical development finance constraints into a structure that could, over time, support real-world energy deployments at scale. I believe strongly that blended finance needs to evolve — not only in terms of capital structure, but also in how we integrate data, technology, and currency stabilization into emerging-market pipelines. This white paper is one contribution to that conversation. Thank you to individuals like Wangari Muchiri and Liz Mubari who were generous enough to help stress test our concept with their expert insights. If you are interested in blended finance, energy access, FX stability, dynamic reserve design, or frontier financial infrastructure, I would love to exchange ideas.

The UK has some of the oldest and least energy efficient housing stock in Europe. As one of the largest funders of the UK housing sector, we at Lloyds Banking Group have a responsibility to help change this. One potential solution to this challenge is Property Linked Finance (PLF), an innovative financing solution that’s already been successfully launched in several countries around the world. Today, we’ve published the ‘greenprint’ for how PLF could be introduced to the UK in collaboration with the Green Finance Institute and NatWest Group. With PLF, homeowners and commercial property owners could finance 100% of their energy efficiency upgrades upfront, with finance linked to the property rather than the individual – so owners only invest until they sell their property or have paid off the measures and buyers benefit from the increased energy efficiency. As a new form of long-term finance, where the term can match the useful lifetime of the improvements, PLF addresses a gap in the UK market. In addition, PLF could also unlock: • Lower bills for homeowners through energy savings • Between £52-70 billion of investment in upgrading the UK’s inefficient building stock • The creation of skilled jobs across the UK PLF increases the range of financial solutions available to property owners. This time last year, we published a Housing Stocktake report, which found that while over half of homeowners would like to make their properties more efficient, few feel confident about how to get there. Retrofit options need to be more accessible, affordable and simple for our customers to implement – this is an exciting development that would empower them to do so. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/emCtWUJ2 #GreenHomes #RetrofitFinance #Sustainability #ClimateAction #NetZero

India needs to add ~46 GW of renewable capacity every year through 2030 to hit its 500 GW target. It added 45 GW of solar in FY2026. So the math works, as long as you diversify from utility-scale parks that take 18–24 months from bid to synchronisation. The faster path runs through distributed energy: rooftop solar, Commerical and Industrial open access, agricultural pumps, behind-the-meter storage. India installed 8.7 GW of rooftop solar in FY2026 alone — a 69% year-on-year jump. Open access solar crossed 30 GW cumulative. A 500 kW rooftop system commissions in 60–90 days. A 5 MW C&I open access project in under six months. These aren't niche numbers anymore. But there's a bottleneck that doesn't get enough attention: working capital. Solar EPCs — especially SMEs — routinely win projects they can't fully fund through procurement. Traditional bank credit is slow, collateral-heavy, and sized for larger tickets. The result: equipment delays, missed milestones, compressed margins. This is exactly where Odyssey Energy Solutions has built something interesting. Their supply chain credit model — proven across Africa and Latin America — is now live in India. Credit without collateral, milestone-aligned repayment, embedded directly into the procurement workflow. An EPC can place a module order with 100% upfront payment to the supplier, secure better pricing, and repay as customer milestones arrive. One case: a leading Indian EPC with 700+ MW in its order book used Odyssey's platform to execute nearly 200 MW across four states — Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh — without straining working capital. India doesn't lack solar resource, manufacturing capacity, or demand. Module production jumped from 38 GW to 74 GW in a single fiscal year. The constraint is deployment velocity — and deployment velocity is a financing problem as much as a policy problem. Companies solving the financing layer for distributed energy in India are working on something structurally important. Worth watching. #India #SolarEnergy #DistributedEnergy #CleanEnergy #EnergyTransition #RenewableEnergy #ProjectFinance

𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟐.𝟓 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐩 in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in clean energy, resilient infrastructure, financial inclusion, and agriculture. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬. Blended Finance - which uses limited public or philanthropic capital to unlock large-scale private investment - emerges as a strategic, scalable solution. With over $4.5 trillion in private “dry powder” globally, Asia has both the urgency and the opportunity to reimagine how development is funded. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐁𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐞-𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. This includes all areas with untapped potential across India and Southeast Asia. India, with its strong institutional frameworks and policy-led financial infrastructure, is uniquely placed to harness this wave. Initiatives like 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓-𝐏, which aims to mobilize $5 billion toward Asia’s climate transition, are already demonstrating outcomes. In Gujarat, startups supported by GIFT City’s regulatory sandbox are creating sustainable debt products tied to climate action, while NBFCs are testing blended lending models to fund electric mobility and decentralized energy projects. In Maharashtra, early-stage funds are experimenting with micro-blended models in agriculture and dairy logistics, using carbon offset mechanisms to bring commercial value to sustainability. Delhi-based startups in fintech and insure-tech are leveraging risk guarantees to serve underbanked populations in rural belts—proof that catalytic capital can activate both inclusion and innovation. And yet, barriers persist. Project preparation remains underfunded, institutional capital is still cautious, and most deal structures are tailor-made - leading to high transaction costs and slow replicability. Blended finance will only achieve scale if ecosystems are built around standardization, local capacity building, and long-term public-private collaboration. Blended finance is not just a funding mechanism - it’s India's opportunity to align innovation with inclusion. With the right partnerships, we can turn investment gaps into gateways for sustainable growth.

Can Africa close its clean energy financing gap while replacing millions of diesel generators with affordable, decentralised solutions? This week on the Unlocking Africa Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Roeland Menger, Chief Executive of Nithio, a climate fintech platform investing in clean energy companies and helping others allocate capital to climate solutions that build resilience. Roeland’s journey into Africa’s energy transition began in an unexpected way. After starting his career in offshore wind and corporate finance, he found himself structuring energy projects in Madagascar, where a simple solar mini-grid transformed a small fishing village into a thriving local economy. That experience cemented his commitment to tackling one of Africa’s greatest challenges: access to affordable, reliable power. Explaining the problem, Roeland told me: “Only three percent of global climate finance reaches Africa. The challenge is not a lack of capital; it is how to structure and de-risk investments so they can flow at scale.” Today, Nithio is doing exactly that by combining artificial intelligence powered risk analytics with innovative blended finance structures. Their work is: → Using satellite and socioeconomic data to accurately forecast repayment patterns → Aggregating borrowers into risk groups that make portfolios investable → Deploying the Facility for Adaptation, Inclusion and Resilience across twenty countries → Replacing diesel generators with decentralised clean energy systems by 2028 → Financing local small and medium-sized enterprises in sectors from solar irrigation to electric mobility On why this matters, Roeland shared: “For every one pound of junior capital we raise, we unlock four pounds of senior capital that can be deployed to scale clean energy access. That is how we make small local companies bankable.” As Nithio looks to grow, the vision is bold: to make clean energy not only more affordable but also investable, enabling Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises to grow, adapt, and thrive in the face of climate change. If you care about climate finance, energy access, or the role of artificial intelligence in powering Africa’s resilience, this is a conversation you will want to hear. ⬇️ Listen now — link in the comments below ⬇️ #ClimateFinance #CleanEnergy #ArtificialIntelligence #BlendedFinance #SustainableDevelopment #Podcast

From prototype to 40,000 farmers and counting. In 2015, SunCulture had a solar irrigation pump that could transform African agriculture. But it cost $5,000. Farmers couldn’t afford it. No investor would fund it. A £100K grant from GSMA changed everything. It funded a redesign that cut costs dramatically, making the product affordable. That single move unlocked early investor interest and transformed a prototype into a viable business. But access remained a barrier. Most farmers still couldn’t afford the new pump upfront. So in 2016, Shell Foundation and UK Aid Direct provided a catalytic $300K grant to test a novel idea: “pay-as-you-grow” financing. The pilot worked. Farmers repaid their loans. Later grants funded scale infrastructure: - new pumps - distribution and logistics - customer training - remote monitoring - carbon credit pilots By the time commercial investors arrived in force, the system was in place. Not just the product. From there, the company grew rapidly, supported by a well-sequenced blend of grants, debt, and equity. Today, SunCulture has deployed nearly 40,000 solar irrigation systems, increased farmer incomes by up to 10×, and is on track to reach 300,000 farms by 2030. SunCulture proved that even in rural settings, solar irrigation could be both adoptable and financially viable. Philanthropy didn’t scale the company. It made scale possible. That’s the role of catalytic capital: - Accept early risk - Build missing systems - Make real innovation investable That’s what good funding design can unlock.

💡 600 million people in Africa still live without electricity. Progress is stalling, falling far short of universal access goals. How can we bridge this gap? The International Energy Agency (IEA)'s new report, "Financing Electricity Access in Africa," dives deep into the investment landscape and charts a pathway forward Key findings: ( ) less than $2.5 billion was committed for new connections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023. Reaching universal access by 2035 requires a six-fold increase to $15 billion annually ( ) finance is scarce and heavily reliant on public sources ( ) public finance, mainly from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) via debt, accounts for over 70% of commitments ( ) private finance contributes less than 30% ( ) equity, crucial for scaling up, remains limited and concentrated, especially hindering mini-grid and solar home system (SHS) developers ( ) financing often misses rural areas, where 80% of those without access live ( ) beyond connections, at least $2 billion more per year is needed just to make basic electricity services affordable for the 220 million who likely couldn't pay today Achieving universal access by 2035 requires a strategic shift: ( ) mobilising $15 billion annually, with private finance needing to grow to ~45% of the total ( ) improving regulations, integrating electrification with productive uses (like farming & small businesses), and standardizing projects are key ( ) using limited concessional finance catalytically – focusing on the hardest-to-reach, de-risking projects, building capacity, and taking higher-risk positions (especially patient equity) ( ) scaling up new models like securitisation for SHS, energy-as-a-service, green bonds for mini-grids, and crowdfunding

As #NYCW approaches, it's vital to put the #spotlight on practical and scalable #solutions for #financing the #clean #energy #transition, particularly in #emerging #markets. Our latest report at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Financing Pathways for the Energy Transition: A Regional Approach, explores seven key #strategies to #unlock #capital and #accelerate clean energy adoption across #regions. From addressing the debt conundrum to leveraging innovative financing mechanisms and expediting private investment, this framework provides actionable insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and investors alike. 📌 Develop a Robust #Regional Clean Energy Strategy 📌 Advance #Structural and Regulatory #Reforms 📌 Address the #Debt #Conundrum 📌 Strengthen #Innovative Financing Mechanisms 📌 Rethink Public Financing and #MDBs 📌 Catalyze #Private #Investment 📌 Accelerate #Technology Advancements These pathways represent a comprehensive approach to overcoming the barriers of high financing costs, regulatory challenges, and the need for debt relief, all tailored to regional realities. As we gather for #NYClimateWeek, it's clear that collaborative, cross-sector efforts are essential to drive the energy transition forward globally. 🌍⚡ For those keen to dive deeper into the intricacies of these strategies and how they can be applied across Africa, APAC, LAC, and Europe, I invite you to explore our report. ➡ https://lnkd.in/diWG4XWu Jeffrey Sachs Lisa Sachs Elena Crete Lucas Didrik Haugeberg Daniel Bernstein Perrine Toledano Andrew Howell Leslie Labruto Jake Hiller #EnergyTransition #SustainableFinance #EmergingMarkets #ClimateAction #FinancingTheFuture #NYClimateWeek

Innovative insurance and financing platforms are quietly becoming some of the most powerful enablers of the energy transition. In the case of geothermal, a new joint initiative from KfW and Munich Re  in Germany is tackling one of the sector’s toughest challenges: subsurface exploration risk — by pairing conditionally repayable loans with exploration insurance. At a glance: 🔹 Drilling is expensive and comes with high uncertainty 🔹 That risk has stalled countless viable projects 🔹 Traditional financing often isn’t accessible at early stages Creative mechanisms like this give early-stage projects a real path to move forward — unlocking clean, local, and secure "the heat beneath our feet." Hats off to Matthias Tönnis, who played a key role in bringing this solution to market. Behind-the-scenes work like this is critical to making geothermal scalable — and investable. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gMYpJUFX #Geothermal #ClimateFinance #RiskMitigation #CleanHeat #PolicyInnovation #EnergyTransition #PublicPrivatePartnerships #MunichRe #KfW #RenewableHeat

In 2024, the world added over 585 GW of renewables, and clean energy jobs surpassed 16 million. Solar is now the least expensive electricity source in history and global energy investments are expected to reach $3.3 trillion by 2025. This is more than a technology shift; it's a global economic transformation. But one critical question remains: Are we making the energy transition work for everyone, everywhere? In Mongolia, coal still dominates the energy system. In Ulaanbaatar, 1.6M people rely on raw coal for heat - driving pollution 27x over WHO limits, causing 7,000+ premature deaths and costing 10% of GDP. Despite these challenges, Mongolia has committed to change - targeting 30% renewable energy by 2030. That’s why, at the recent Multistakeholder Workshop on Advancing a Just Energy Transition in Mongolia - co-hosted by Mongolia’s Ministry of Energy and UNDP - I shared four ways on how to reposition these challenges as opportunities for a just and inclusive transition: 1️⃣ Finance That Unlocks Scale: By 2023, Mongolia attracted $533M across 12 utility-scale renewables. However renewables in Mongolia face high capital costs and limited de-risking. Green bonds, sovereign guarantees, and blended finance (like Paraguay’s $150M e-bus model from $20M in seed funding) can mobilize clean energy investment at scale. 2️⃣ Urban Energy That Protects Lives: Coal-based systems drive both pollution and inequality. Ulaanbaatar’s air crisis is a public health emergency. A just transition must deliver clean heating, efficient housing, and e-mobility. UNDP pilots show solar + battery + insulation can cut emissions and protect over half the country’s population. 3️⃣ Digital Tools for Smart Equity: Energy demand grew 4.7% per capita in one year. Mongolia’s vast geography needs digital planning. AI and geospatial tools - like smart meters in Chingeltei that track carbon savings -can guide clean energy to off-grid and low-income areas, just as UNDP is doing in Moldova. 4️⃣ Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reforms: In Mongolia, fossil fuel subsidies reached $9B in 2023; a 120% increase since 2018. Yet by fully phasing them out, we could free up 3.6% of global GDP for reinvestment. With UNDP’s support, countries like Mongolia are designing reforms that reinvest from e-mobility to human capital and health systems. A just transition is about people, not just power. It’s about shaping a future where energy delivers jobs, health, resilience and dignity. Across Mongolia and Asia-Pacific, @UNDP is helping make that future a reality, ensuring no one is left behind. #EnergyForDevelopment #JustTransition #Mongolia #GreenFinance #DigitalForDevelopment