Energy access and fuel poverty

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Paris AlignmentReasoning
Paris aligned KfW is covered under the energy access target set by the German government. KfW has been reporting against this target for the period 2014 – 2018. KfW sets out the form of access its supports and is a member of the “Sustainable Energy for all Initiative”.
 Alignment and Reasoning
Energy Access TargetNot applicable.
Minimum Definition of AccessKfW Development Bank is a member of the “Sustainable Energy for all Initiative”. It focuses on access to electricity. The bank supports conventional forms of access, such as solar home systems, stand-alone grids and grid expansion, as well as integrated generation, efficiency projects and clean cooking.
% of Energy Financing Dedicated to Energy AccessNot applicable – KfW Development Bank does not disclose the share of energy financing dedicated for energy access.
Is Progress MonitoredKfW reports that between 2014 to 2018, access to energy for 12.4 million people was financed. More recent data cannot be found.
Progress Against MetricsKfW has financed 12.4 million new accesses to energy, against a 100 million target set by the German government. More recent data would be welcome.
Disclaimer: Energy access is relevant to KfW Development Bank and, to a lesser extent, DEG. Hence, for this indicator, only these two branches have been assessed.

Explanation

KfW Development Bank is covered under the target of the German Ministry for Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ) to give an additional 100 million people access to modern energy services by 2030. KfW is also a member of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative. 

Support for energy access is mostly concentrated on access to electricity. KfW lists in particular: Solar Home Systems, biogas plants, isolated mini grids and power connections to modern national grids, as well as modernisation of power plants and the power infrastructure. KfW does not specify what role natural gas-fired power generation plays in this area. But KfW also invests in access to sustainable cooking and heating energy.

KfW Development Bank reports that it has financed 12.4 million new accesses to energy in the years 2014-2018. Unfortunately, more recent data is not available. As part of its SDG mapping, KfW reports that it invested €26.4 billion in activities related to the SDG 7 “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. However, the Bank does not clarify how much of this was invested in new access to clean energy.

Recommendation: KfW Development Bank should report more frequently on its support for energy access, including a breakdown into different indicators, such as gender, wealth level etc.

 

Last Update: November 2022

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