Kenya Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Cooling Investment Marketplace Workshop: Capacity Building in Demand Flexibility, a South-to-South Workshop on Grid Efficiency

Background

The Energy Efficiency and Cooling Investment Marketplace Workshop is a quarterly event designed to bring together stakeholders from various sectors to advance the role of finance, blended finance instruments and project pipelines and bankability of projects in the  national energy efficiency and sustainable cooling initiatives. This initiative is anchored on the Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) which calls for “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030. The convening is a collaborative action between The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, with several development partners, Fund managers, Foundations, multi-lateral Development Banks (MDBs), private sector players in Kenya, non-governmental sector and higher institutions of learning supported by the Mission Efficiency Marketplace Taskforce, SEforALL and other partners, that aims to galvanize and accelerate investments into energy efficiency and sustainable cooling in Kenya by collaborating with all stake holders to unlock finance and policy related initiatives  in the ecosystem.

This will commence with an investment roundtable on 18th of June focusing on  impact investment and setting up a finance ecosystem for innovative finance for example  blended finance which provides a roadmap for interventions in renewable energy segments, such as solar mini-grids, clean cooking, sustainable cooling solutions and energy efficiency as services, which struggle to secure conventional finance. As the transition to a low-carbon economy and implementation of the Kenya Energy Transition Investment Plan (ETIP) gathers pace across emerging economies,new technologies/ innovations and untapped demographic segments come to the fore, innovative financial mechanisms offer a solution that can help alleviate the technological and market risks allowing projects to access affordable capital to enable viable sustainable business models to scale up.

Objectives

• Facilitate knowledge exchange and networking among innovators, investors, and stakeholders in the energy sector. 
• Evaluate on barriers and opportunities for financial institutions and mainstream financial banking to extend financial solutions to key ecosystem players
• Explore project bankability, viable business models and financial mechanisms that will accelerate uptake of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Cooling solutions.
• Provide a platform for innovators to pitch their energy-efficiency and sustainable cooling projects to a panel of judges, potential investors, and stakeholders. 
• Promote investment opportunities in energy efficiency and sustainable cooling solutions in Kenya.
• Accelerate action towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 1, 3, 7, 12, 13 and 17 and others indirectly. 
• Build up a platform for Technical Assistance to financial institutions and key start-ups in the ecosystem, pilots and propose a raft of financial solutions that will enable them achieve scale ups.

Target Audience

a) Innovators and entrepreneurs working on energy-efficient cooling technologies. 
b) Investors interested in supporting sustainable energy projects. 
c) Representatives from government agencies and regulatory bodies in the energy sector. 
d) Energy industry professionals, researchers, and academia. 
e) Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and development agencies focusing on energy and sustainability.
f) Students and individuals interested in energy efficiency and sustainable cooling solutions.
Benefits 
a) Innovators will have the opportunity to gain visibility, showcase their solutions, and receive feedback from industry experts and potential investors. 
b) Investors will have access to a diverse pool of innovative energy-efficient cooling projects, allowing them to identify investment opportunities aligned with their goals. 
c) Stakeholders in the energy sector will gain insights into emerging technologies, policy frameworks, and market trends, fostering collaboration and partnerships for sustainable development. 
d) The event will promote knowledge exchange, capacity building, and networking among participants, contributing to the growth of the energy efficiency and cooling sector in Kenya.
e) Unlocking finance opportunities, validations of business models and financial solutions to enable a win-win situation between the demand and supply side of the finance ecosystem.

Event Organizers

The Energy Efficiency and Cooling Investment Marketplace Workshop is organized by a collaboration between Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of Kenya, Ministry of Environment of Kenya, Climate Change and Forestry, Mission Efficiency Ecosystem and Sustainable Energy for All and will ensure seamless execution of the event, including logistics, program management, participant coordination, and marketing.