SEED: Sustainable Energy for Economic Development

We aim to help six African countries expand electricity access with clean technologies by 2020.

Image Courtesy Off-Grid Electric

What Is SEED?

We work with governments, utilities, development partners, and private sector energy developers in developing countries to drive affordable, efficient, whole-systems energy programs that incorporate emerging distributed, renewable technologies and rapidly provide energy access to those without electricity.

Photo credit: Irene Angwenyi / USAID Kenya

Why It Matters

Globally, 1.2 billion people lack access to electricity; yet reliable electricity is crucial to human well-being and to a country’s economic development. If the economies of sub-Saharan Africa are to continue their rapid rates of growth, their citizens and businesses will need access to affordable, clean, and reliable electricity.

Picture credit: Joerg Boethling

What We’re Doing

RMI is supporting energy access in developing countries through single-country engagements and cross-cutting efforts that scale what we learn on the ground more broadly. We started in Rwanda and are currently working in Sierra Leone and Uganda.

RMI provides two main services: Impartial technical, policy and financial advice on energy system development, and collaboration with government, development partners, and the private sector to ensure successful implementation of our recommendations.

Learn More

Photo courtesy of Eric Wanless

What We’ve Accomplished

In Rwanda, our first partner country, we have:

Worked closely with development partners and the private sector to create a shared vision for and approach to rural electrification

Identified $20 million per year immediate savings for the national utility and developed an energy efficiency program with the utility to capture savings

Identified concrete opportunities that will help the government meet its rural electrification targets to grow access to electricity from 22% to 70% in two years, using a combination of on-grid and off-grid technologies

Revealed $1 billion in long-term savings through an integrated resource plan and worked with the national utility on initial implementation

Built capacity with the national utility to develop, own, and update an integrated resource plan to guide energy procurement, demand management, and rural electrification decisions