Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Access

Overview

The global pandemic COVID-19 has completely uprooted our lives and changed the way we work. It also has a tremendous impact on the off-grid energy sector. According to a survey by GOGLA, if this situation lasts for more than 3-4 months, many off-grid companies (almost 50%) will not survive. One of the biggest problems of off-grid companies is liquidity. Due to the current situation, customer liquidity has gone down, new sales have decreased, access to capital is either slowed or reduced and this has made it difficult to maintain the infrastructures. 

This page list all the articles, resources and information related to COVID-19 and energy access and is not exhaustive. Please feel free to add new resources to this page by editing it.

Resources

Below are a list of different resouces such as funding opportunities, tools and courses:

• COVID-19 Energy Access Relief Fund: https://www.energyaccessrelief.org/
• GET-Invest COVID-19 Window for energy projects in sub-saharan Africa and Carribean: https://www.get-invest.eu/finance-catalyst/covid-19-window/
• EnAccess is supporting open source Oxygen Concentrators for underserved communities: https://enaccess.org/openO2/
• Clean Cooking Alliance: https://www.cleancookingalliance.org/feature/covid-19-resources.html
• GOGLA for off-grid companies: https://www.gogla.org/covid-19-resource-center-0
• Lighting Global IFC FUND | COVID-19 Energy Relief Fund:The latest information about an upcoming fund dedicated to maintaining the sector's progress in providing energy access. 
• Lighting Global IFC RESOURCES | COVID-19: A collection of information from across the industry on how to best mitigate impacts of the corona virus. This includes editorials, webinars, and virtual classrooms on off-grid energy.
• Truvalue Labs Coronavirus ESG monitor to track surface trends and insights where COVID-19 intersects with env, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues: https://coronavirus.truvaluelabs.com/
• SEforALL resources: https://www.seforall.org/news/supporting-the-global-fight-against-covid-19
• Global Plan of Action COVID-19 response: https://www.humanitarianenergy.org/what-is-the-gpa/covid-19-and-humanitarian-energy/

Links to Corona related Energy Access Articles

• Transforming the energy system—a post-COVID-19 win-win for people and planet, Niklas Hagelberg and Mark Radka, UN Environment Programme, 29 April 2020
  
• Coronavirus – Africa: COVID-19 lessons offer hope for global efforts to address climate change impacts, Africa Press Office, 28 April 2020
  
• COVID-19 crisis reinforces the importance of the sustainable energy transition, Michael Williamson and Anis Zaman, UN ESCAP, 27 April 2020
  
• OPINION World Bank/SEforALL | Energy Access Takes Center Stage in Fighting COVID-19
• Coronavirus crisis threatens to cut off clean electricity lifeline for poor, Megan Rowling, Thomas Reuters Foundation, 20 April 2020
  
• Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Energy) and Covid-19 in Situations of Displacement: A Briefing Note, GPA, 20 April 2020
  
• COVID-19 Roundup, by Power for All about the collective action being taken by the energy access community globally. Power for All, 20 April 2020
• Opinion: The effects of coronavirus measures on electricity markets, Alex Gilbert and Morgan Bazilian, Utility Dive, 20 April 2020
  
• Beating Covid Is All About Electricity, Robert Bryce, Forbes, 19 April 2020
  
• Hivos Energy,The unseen linkage between clean cooking solutions and pandemic: how to save millions of potential victims Long-sighted strategies are required to unlock significant benefits for all.16.04.2020. Hivos
  
• African Union and IRENA to Advance Renewables in Response to Covid-19, IRENA, 16 April 2020
• ARE - CALL TO ACTION: Roadmap for the decentralised renewables sector to survive and flourish in the wake of thecovid-19 crisis, 15.04.2020
• OPINION: COVID-19, air pollution and cooking: a deadly connection, by Hajia Samira Bawumia & Dymphna van der Lans | @SBawumia | Clean Cooking Alliance, Wednesday, 15 April 2020 09:56 GMT
  "The ability for doctors to treat infected populations is based on the assumption that clinics and medical equipment are fully functioning with access to sufficient, uninterrupted, reliable electricity..."
• Covid lockdown will impact rooftop solar more than grid-connected projects, says Care Ratings, Uma Gupta, PV Magazine, 14 April 2020
  
• How Will Last-Mile Distributors Adapt to and Survive the COVID-19 Crisis?, Emma Colenbrander, Practical Action, Global Distributors Collective (GDC), 14.4.2020
• COVID-19: Lessons learnt and outlooks for sustainable, low carbon transport, SLOCAT, 14 April 2020 
• Staying on Course: Renewable Energy in the Time of COVID-19, Newsroon, 10 April 2020
  
• OP-Ed COVID-19 is a huge threat to Africa’s off-grid energy sector and its millions of customers – here’s what needs to be done, Mansoor Hamayun, CNBC, 9 April 2020
  
• Here's why energy security is a vital tool in tackling a pandemic, World Economic Forum, 6 April 2020
  
• COVID-19 — the Global South must not be forgotten, Morgan Bazilian and Jay Lemery The Hill, 5 April 2020
  
• COVID-19: Nigeria should prioritise power supply to health care facilities, Samuel Ayokunle Olowosejeje, The Conversation, 30 March 2020
  
• OPINION: Power in a pandemic - why energy access matters during coronavirus; Damilola Ogunbiyi, SEforALL, 31 March 2020
  
• Coronavirus outbreak has serious impact on solar industry, Renewable Energy Hub, 20 March

Webinars/Recordings

• Webinar: Solar Heat for Commercial and Industrial Applications – Industry Update & Impact of COVID-19, 14 May 
  
• Sustainability After COVID-19: Voices from Leading International Organizations (GGGI, OECD, UNEP and the World Bank)
• Ask an Expert” with Harish Hande, Founder and CEO of SELCO Foundation
  
• Facebook Live from Clean and Power For ALL- COVID-19: Impact on India's DRE Sector
  
• Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW): Covid-19 related uncertainty might wipe out cash flows in India's solar industry and affect sectoral growth for at least two quarters. Solar imports from China declined by 70 per cent in January 2020 compared to January 2019. India relies on China for 80% of its solar imports. The crisis could lead to projects being delayed by 4-6 months and 70,000 people facing job uncertainties. Watch CEEW'S analysis on how India can minimise the damage to its solar sector.