Global efforts to encourage clean energy have resulted in more than 20% of global power being generated by renewable resources. At Nexus for Development, we want to be part of this journey. By promoting the use of low-carbon technologies in the agri-food sector, businesses in Cambodia will save money and have a reliable energy resource. The switch to green energy will also grow local economies, reduce air pollution and improve food security.
That’s why we will introduce our Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF) at COP23. CERF offers affordable financing options for those in the Cambodian agri-food sector who are ready to take the next step. It’s set-up for small and medium enterprises (SME’s), as they struggle most to compete in the region due to high prices for electricity and limited grid connectivity. Renewable energy technologies can provide these SME’s with resilient and CO2-neutral sources of power, but this often requires an important upfront investment.
With the CERF, we want to bridge this financing gap by providing finance with flexible and affordable terms. CERF’s dynamic structure also allows the fund to learn, adapt and quickly respond to what’s happening on the ground. Thus far we successfully invested in fruit-, vegetable-, spice- and pig farms as well as water suppliers. The financed technologies include solar PV, solar water pumping, solar drying, biomass gasification and biogas.
It’s encouraging to see results in Cambodia and we cannot wait to share these lessons at COP23. Both good practices as well as the challenges we faced are relevant for other sectors and countries. At our side event, co-organized with REEEP, we will explain the key success factors and discuss ideas to replicate and scale up the funding model.
We are looking forward to seeing you at COP23!
Join us at Tuesday 14th of November, 18:45 – 20:15 at Energies 2050 Pavilion in Bonn with the following speakers:
The Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF) is funded by: