Seeking proposals for new health electrification finance mechanisms

Shell Foundation is seeking applications to fund health electrification projects via targeted financing mechanisms as part of a new pilot programme.As mini-grid companies, development finance institutions, health organisations, and non-profits announce initiatives to support the electrification of COVID-19 health facilities, a key challenge remains to strike a balance between rapid deployment and the long-term sustainability of emergency responses.

This pilot programme has been developed with Odyssey’s Powering Health Platform, in cooperation with UK Aid, and aims to identify, establish and communicate best practices and data regarding which types of concessionary finance are best suited and ensure the long-term sustainability of health electrification projects.

The programme is seeking proposals from the private sector that put forward a compelling case for the use of a specified financing mechanism for development of one or more health electrification projects. Mechanisms could include:

• Guarantees
• Results-based financing
• Innovative O&M financing models
• Energy-as-a-service
• Subsidy-debt hybrid

Funding provided by Shell Foundation will be grant funding used as de-risking capital alongside the developers’ commercial capital. Selected projects will need to provide data to inform how to rapidly deploy energy access solutions for healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.

The full Call for Proposals is on the Odyssey Powering Health page, including the proposal questionnaire.