Providing reliable electricity to the developing world is our business

The world has a long way to go in meeting the UN’s goal of “modern energy for all” by 2030. How can Shell help to transform lives through a reliable electricity supply? 

I am privileged to have lived in many different parts of the world, from the Netherlands to Brazil, Singapore to Russia. Towards the end of the 1990s, I moved to Ghana to take a job as Shell’s regional finance manager for West Africa.

During my years there, I witnessed the daily struggles of those without access to readily available energy. In Accra – where our Ghana offices were – I saw families in shanty towns around the city having to carry wood long distances to cook. After dark, there were no outside lights. Elsewhere in the city, wealthier residents benefited from diesel generation to kick in when power went down. But widespread and long-lasting prosperity requires a reliable, sustainable electricity supply.

Transforming lives

Today, just under a billion people around the world are living without electricity. Hundreds of millions more don’t have a reliable supply.

This means they must survive without many of the things that I take for granted, such as light to read after dark and food fresh from my fridge. It also restricts economic growth, since businesses need reliable electricity to operate properly, while communities need well-functioning schools and hospitals to thrive.

In its Sustainable Development Goals, the UN states its desire to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Yet, despite increasing electrification, our planet’s growing population leaves a significant shortfall.

The need for off-grid investment

The total amount of investment needed to reach universal energy access globally is around $52 billion a year, estimates the International Energy Agency. Off-grid electricity, which is generated independently of a national electricity grid, plays a vital and growing role in the energy system. As one example, mini-grids, which power a local group of customers, could provide electricity for up to 500 million people by 2030, according to a recent World Bank report.

At Shell, we recognise that major investment is needed by the private sector. We also see this as a commercial opportunity. In October 2018, our CEO – and my boss – Ben van Beurden, laid out the ambition that, by 2030, we will be providing a reliable electricity supply to 100 million people in the developing world.

Our approach in getting there involves investing in proven technologies which are delivered through businesses models that can be replicated and expanded.

A selective approach

So far, our investments include Husk Power Systems, which uses solar panels with a back-up system that turns crop waste into fuel to provide electricity to rural households and businesses in India and Tanzania.

We have also stepped up our investment in SolarNow, a company based in Uganda that sells and installs solar systems which power electrical appliances. And we recently increased our investment in SteamaCo, which sells its technology to companies developing mini-grids in Africa and Asia.

In addition, we invested in SunFunder, a firm based in Kenya which finances solar companies that are focused on improving energy access.

We continue to work on new opportunities as we have a long way to go. And we can’t achieve this alone. We need to collaborate across the industry, with governments and with multilateral institutions. It will require commitment. It will require diplomacy. And it will require patience.

But when I think back to my time in Africa, I don’t doubt our instinct for a moment. Providing reliable, sustainable electricity to the developing world is vital for society and good for our business.

Husk has now installed its 50th site in India. To see the positive impact of the reliable electricity supply it delivers, watch this film.