Solar Home System Market Landscape in Mozambique

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Introduction

Mozambique’s solar market is still at a nascent stage but is growing steadily largely due to the support provided by different multiple donor funded programmes[1] and innovative financing mechanisms such as Pay-as-you-go (PAYGO). PAYGO breaks down the initial high investment cost of SHS into small monthly/regular payments that are aligned with the customer’s willingness and ability to pay.

According to the data from Lighting Global’s quarterly off-grid sales report, sales of lighting products (such as SHS and solar lanterns) increased from 13,178 units in 2017 to 39,304 units in 2020 [2][3] and to 107,478 in 2021[4][5]. This number can be expected to be much higher as the data is based on GOGLA members and companies selling products that meet Lighting Global Quality Standards and only included sales data from manufacturers to avoid double counting. In general, the sector saw a increase of 170% in sales as compared to 2020 and this could be due to the support from various energy programmes like GIZ FASER, Proenergia and BRILHO that helped the sector recover from COVID. The sale of other off-grid solar appliances such as TVs, refrigeration and solar pumps have also increased. 2021 saw a 72% increase in sales of off-grid solar appliances from 2,444 units in 2020[2][3] to 4,213 units in 2021[5][4].

This article provides a snapshot of the SHS market in Mozambique particularly on actors involved in the market and is targeted at private sector, donor organisations, NGOs, Government bodies and other stakeholders who are interested in getting a deeper understanding of the SHS market.  

In this article, the term SHS includes all Tier SHS, including picoPV products (below 10 W). Tier 1 is defined as basic SHS with lights and/or radio and/or USB port for mobile charging. Tier 2 includes lights, phone charger, radio and TV. Tier 3+ includes big productive use appliances such as solar pumps, refrigerators.


SHS Market Landscape

Private sector

The SHS market in Mozambique has expanded greatly since 2017 and new players are entering the market. In 2018, there were around 20 companies selling certified SHS in Mozambique[6]. In 2022, five major solar companies have dominated the market. These companies sell SHS on pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) model as well as via direct cash sales. Solarworks! was the first to start operations in 2017 followed by Epsilon 2017[7]. ENGIE Energy Access (previously called Fenix Intl) joined the market in 2019 and Ignite and Digitech in 2020[8].  These companies are a mix of manufactures (SolarWorks! and ENGIE Energy Access) who sell their own brand products and distributors (Ignite, Epsilon and Digitech) who sell other companies’ brand products. Together, they have sold over 187,000 SHS units from 2017 until July 2022[9]. They also cover all 11 provinces in Mozambique[8].  Further companies active in the SHS market include for example Green Watts, EREL - Empresa de Energias Renovaveis do Limpopo, Matharia, Ecosys, Dynamiss Trading, Sogepal, Enteria, Agrofield, Sociedade Algodoeira do Niassa - JFS, S. A. - Francisco Ferreira dos Santos and Green Lights.

Table 1 shows the number of SHS sold by some of the companies as well as the types of products they offer (this table is continuously being updated with new information)[8].

Name Operating since Provinces covered SHS size (range in W) Types of Systems Unit of systems sold Financing model Average price for the lowest Tier SHS offered by each company
SolarWorks! 2017 Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Manica and Nampula 20-155 Manufacturer of SHS with:

lights+charger+radio

lights+charger+radio+TV

lights+charger+radio+

sewing machine

>70,000


2000-2500 system installed per month (oct 2021)[10]

PAYGO+

direct sales

For 20 W SHS (3 light+battery+charger)

Down payment: 595 MT (USD 9.41)

Monthly instalment: 295 (USD 4.66)

Duration: 30 months

ENGIE Energy Access (previously

Fenix Intl)

2019 9 provinces except Nyasa and Cabo Delgado 10-50 Manufacturer of SHS with:

lights+charger

lights+charger+radio

lights+charger+radio+TV

100,000 (until July 2022)[11] PAYGO+

direct sales

<10 W SHS (2 lights+charger)

Down payment: MT 800 (USD 12.6)

Monthly instalment: MT 750 (USD 11.8)

Duration: 18 months

Ignite 2019 Zambezia and Niassa 12-400 Distributor 10,000 (until Sep 2021)[12]


PAYGO+

direct sales

Epsilon 2017 Manica, Tete and Zambezia 6 Distributor of Greenlight Planet’s Sun King Home 60 (

SHS with 3 lamps+battery+USB port) and Sun King Home 400 (SHS with two tube lights+two hanging lamps+battery+TV)

+7000 (Oct 2021) PAYGO+

direct sales

6 W SHS (3 Lights+ charging port)

Down payment: MT 1625 (USD 27)

Monthly instalment: not available

Duration: 3, 6, 12 and 24 months (80% products are sold in the 24 month period)

Digitech 2020 Gaza, Inhambane, Nampula, Cabo Delgado 4-400 Distributor 500 (until 2020) PAYGO+

direct sales

Uranus Solar 2020[13] 6-40 1000 (until March 2022)[14] PAYGO 6W (3 lamps+phone charging)

10 W ( 4 lamps+ phone and radio charging)

40 W (4 lamps and phone charging)[15]


Donor programmes

There are many international energy programmes that aim to provide electricity to rural households using SHS. These programmes provide subsidies and grants to SHS companies targeting the high cost of market entry in mostly rural and remote geographical locations.

For a list of all active donor programmes in Mozambique, please see here. For a list of financing opportunities (whenever available), please click here.

Some of the major donor programmes that provide funding and support for SHS are highlighted below:

EnDev Mozambique is a multi-donor programme that supports SHS companies by using a results-based financing mechanism. In 2019, it provided access to electricity to 229,300 people by supporting PAYGO companies, mini-grid operators and grid densification programme[16].  Along with financial support, EnDev also capacitates private companies by offering business development services targeted at improving the bankability and growth of private sector.

Green People's Energy Mozambique (GBE) is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The programme’s objective is to improve access to energy in rural areas in nine African countries with a special focus on decentralised renewable energy and participation of local municipalities, cooperatives and local companies[17].

The activities include promotion of productive use of energy for income generation; encouraging private sector to improve the quality of their services; advising political decision-makers on better integration of decentralised renewable energy; and supporting the use of decentralised energy in social institutions in Mozambique[18]. GBE's GreenSkills4Dev project offers online courses, live virtual workshops and hands-on practical training on different renewable energy topics including solar. The project is also collaborating with the Eduardo Mondlane University to offer Blended Learning Master Degree and is supporting local institutes to set up renewable energy trainings.

World Bank’s ProEnergia programme aims to connect a total 250,000 households to the grid by the end of 2024. Specific targets related to SHS are[19]:

  • mobilise private companies using results-based financing (RBF) to provide 18,000 households with access to electricity using SHS.
  • assisting Fundo de Energia (FUNAE) to adopt the Lighting Global quality standards for SHS for Mozambique[19]

BRILHO, funded by UK Aid, provides financial support and technical assistance to the private sector for off-grid electrification with SHS and mini grids. The fund is divided into two mechanisms: catalytic grants and RBF[20]. One of the companies that have already received funding form BRILHO is Ignite Power[21].


Further Information

  • For an overview on the demographics and socio-economic indicators for Mozambique, see this chapter.
  • For detail information about the solar energy potential in Mozambique, please see this chapter.
  • For detail information about the donor funded programme in Mozambique, please see this chapter.

For more information about the SHS market, please see the following chapters:


References

  1. ↑ Hodgkinson, Luke, and Nikita Smeshko. “Challenges in the Solar Home Industry in Mozambiqu,” 2021. https://amer.org.mz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Private-Sector-Challenges-SHS-EN_24022021-VF.pdf.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lighting Global, Efficiency for Access Coalition, Berenschot, and GOGLA. “Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data | July-December 2020,” 2020. https://www.gogla.org/sites/default/files/resource_docs/global_off-grid_solar_market_report_h2_2020.pdf.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 No data was recorded for the first quarter of 2018 and 2019 due to confidentiality of the data i.e for the data to be considered, there has to be more than three companies taking part in the GOGLA survey. Thus, this section only shows the data from 2017 and 2020 for comparison
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data (January-June 2021). https://www.gogla.org/sites/default/files/gogla_sales-and-impact-reporth1-2021_07.pdf
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data (July-December 2021). Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report Semi-Annual Sales and Impact Data (January-June 2020). https://www.gogla.org/sites/default/files/resource_docs/gogla_sales-and-impact-reporth2-2021_def2.pdf
  6. ↑ Greenlight. “Mozambique  – Off-Grid Energy Market Assessment.” 2019. https://beyondthegrid.africa/wp-content/uploads/MOZ-Greenlight-Off-Grid-Energy-Market-Analysis.pdf.
  7. ↑ Raposeiro. R(2021): Webinar 1: State of Play: Solar Home System (SHS) Market in Mozambique
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 “ALER - Resumo Renovaveis Em Mocambique 2021.” Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.lerenovaveis.org/contents/lerpublication/aler_mar2021_resumo-renovaveis-em-mocambique-2021.pdf.
  9. ↑ Own calculation based on the Webinar 1: State of Play: Solar Home System (SHS) Market in Mozambique and the table below.
  10. ↑ Lupes, N. (2021). Webinar 1: State of Play: Solar Home System (SHS) Market in Mozambique. Webinar Series: Status Quo and Market Potential of Off-grid Renewables in Mozambique
  11. ↑ LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amadebai_oneteam-actwithengie-engieenergyaccess-activity-6950794555793252352-9Yw0?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web
  12. ↑ IGNITE MOZAMBIQUE REACHES 10,000 SHS. https://source.capital/news/
  13. ↑ Crunchbase (2022).https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/uranus-solar-lda
  14. ↑ Uranus Solar (2022). https://www.facebook.com/uranussolarmz/
  15. ↑ Uranus Solar (2022). https://uranus-solar.com/en/products/
  16. ↑ EnDev. “EnDev Mozambique.” EnDev (blog). Accessed June 24, 2021. https://endev.info/countries/mozambique/
  17. ↑ Giz, ‘Green People’s Energy’, accessed 27 May 2021, https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/77417.html.
  18. ↑ GBE, ‘Green People’s Energy for Africa – Mozambique’, Green People’s Energy for Africa, accessed 7 June 2021, https://gruene-buergerenergie.org/en/countries/mozambique/.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 World Bank. “Mozambique - Energy for All (ProEnergia) Project,” 2019. http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/594061554084119829/text/Mozambique-Energy-for-All-ProEnergia-Project.txt.
  20. ↑ “BRILHO.” Accessed June 2, 2021. https://brilhomoz.com/.
  21. ↑ News, E. I. N., and Gil Karie. “Ignite Power Secures Funding from the BRILHO Programme to Expand Operations throughout Mozambique.” EIN News, February 10, 2021. https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/535361458/ignite-power-secures-funding-from-the-brilho-programme-to-expand-operations-throughout-mozambique.
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