The Future of Lighting Global
IFC winds down Lighting Global Support to focus on mobilizing investment for Off-Grid Solar sector, World Bank expands program with ESMAP
A Letter from Russell Sturm & Dana Rysankova
Colleagues,
For more than a decade, the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global program has been at the forefront of the drive to expand access to modern solar energy services for people living without reliable grid electricity. Through Lighting Global, IFC and the World Bank have partnered to accelerate the development of the off-grid solar market, now reaching nearly 40 countries throughout Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, and the Americas. IFC has worked closely with industry and local stakeholders to build the market, while the World Bank supports governments in building the policy enabling environments and access to finance facilities that establish the foundation for the market’s continued growth.
While the broad strokes of our approach have remained the same since our first pilot program launched in Kenya in 2009, we have continually fine-tuned and calibrated our interventions in order to adapt to local needs, rapidly developing technological and business model innovations, market dynamics, and energy access priorities. As the market matured, we evolved the Lighting Global toolkit, seeking to expand the frontier of the sector and address barriers to enable innovation in the industry and increase consumer access across multiple market segments.
We began our mission with intertwined objectives — to enable access to clean modern energy services, by catalyzing a sustainable off-grid market. Our goal has always been for this market to eventually function without our continued foundational market support, which was initially so important to the industry’s development. Today’s US$1.75 billion annual market reflects a vibrant ecosystem of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, investors, donors, development professionals, and others — together demonstrating that we have met our objective to create a self-sustaining market.
The Future of Lighting Global
Within this ecosystem, IFC will now wind down its market development support activities under Lighting Global this June, as planned. The World Bank, under the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), will continue supporting our Lighting Global activities, as we evolve to the next stage, with increased emphasis on scaling up financing and pro-poor targeting to ensure no one is left behind.
Under ESMAP, Lighting Global will continue to leverage World Bank operations and policy dialogue with Governments to keep expanding off-grid solar markets to reach the remaining 790 million people who are still living without energy access. We will also continue to carry out and publish market research, and partner on flagship items including the Market Trends Report and the GOGLA-Lighting Global Off Grid Solar Forum, the core biennial knowledge resources that have supported the global market since their launch in 2009. While Lighting Global has eclipsed its initial goal of reaching 250 million people with modern off-grid solar services, the World Bank team is now singularly focused on contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goal #7 — achieving universal energy access by 2030.
IFC’s departure from Lighting Global will allow for the necessary recalibration to best address the off-grid sector’s next stage market needs. IFC’s core Lighting Global activities are now adapted to today’s market and led by a variety of strong partners, allowing IFC to shift focus to the essential task of mobilizing private investment to enable the commercial market to reach the scale needed to help deliver universal energy access by 2030. We will do this by leveraging IFC investment resources to support local financial institutions to provide needed local currency debt into the sector, and to pilot and help scale new financial instruments that will crowd in mainstream investors to a capital hungry sector. The IFC-CGAP-GOGLA collaboration on PAYGO PERFORM will continue as the foundation underpinning this work.
IFC’s programs have always had a finite life, and over the coming months, we will use the IFC program impact evaluation process to inform future programmatic engagements in the sector and enable climate smart economic development. Lighting Global industry collaborations will continue to be core to this effort, including partnership with sector stakeholders through the PAYGO PERFORM and Path to Profitability initiatives. Many of the core program services that have been carried out by IFC to date will also continue – either through the ESMAP Lighting Global program, through IFC’s market creation work in the sector, or through IFC implementation partners.
Passing the Torch to Our Partners
The independent partners and institutions we helped to establish – GOGLA and VeraSol prominent among them – will now take the lead role on a range of fundamental sectoral support activities, initiated by Lighting Global, that will continue to provide foundational support to the market into the future.
VeraSol, a global partnership managed by CLASP and the Schatz Energy Research Center, will continue to serve as an important touchpoint on product quality for industry, development institutions, and governments. An evolution of Lighting Global Quality Assurance, VeraSol continues to define and support a rigorous quality assurance framework that has been so instrumental to the industry’s success. The program is building on that success by expanding its quality assurance services beyond lighting to encompass off-grid appliance testing. This evolution reflects the changing trajectory of the off-grid solar market and opens the door to a new world of interoperability and further industry diversification.
GOGLA, Lighting Global’s steady partner since the industry association grew out of the second Lighting Global industry meeting in Nairobi in 2010, will continue to take the lead on a range of key services to the industry which grew out of Lighting Global. In addition to the multiple industry support and policy initiatives that GOGLA leads, they will continue to lead the semi-annual product sales reporting, and will continue to partner with Lighting Global on the biannual Off-Grid Solar Industry Forum along with the Market Trends Report that accompanies it.
Looking toward a future free of energy poverty
Both through an evolving Lighting Global program and beyond, the World Bank Group remains committed to supporting the off-grid sector. The essential role that the off-grid sector must play in order to achieve SDG7 is well established, and we are committed to continuing to deploy the World Bank Group resources in support of the off-grid solar market in our quest to realize that ambition.
The remaining unconnected homes are increasingly predominantly rural, remote, poor, and living in contexts suffering from fragility, conflict, or violence (FCV). With the more easily-reached already largely served by the sector, an ESMAP-led Lighting Global will focus increased attention on how the remaining population segments can be reached by the off-grid market.
It has been our pleasure to work alongside you for more than a decade as a joint IFC-World Bank Lighting Global team and see our spark of an idea mature. We are proud of the impact we have collectively achieved so far – and are looking forward to continuing the drive to serve the more difficult to reach last-mile populations through the latest evolution of the Lighting Global program. Under ESMAP, Lighting Global will build on the program’s existing success and lessons learned in order to expand off-grid markets to achieve universal access by 2030. We are excited to continue this work with all of you, as we develop new avenues of collaboration between the World Bank and IFC, while maintaining the aspects of Lighting Global currently best suited to support our shared mission to reach the underserved.
With hopes for light and access for all,
Russell Sturm & Dana Rysankova
点亮全球的未来
国际金融公司（IFC）将停止对点亮全球的市场开发支持活动，将聚焦为离网太阳能行业动员投资，世界银行能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP）将扩大点亮全球项目。
Russell Sturm 先生 和 Dana Rysankova 女士的致信
各位同仁：
十多年来，世界银行集团的点亮全球项目一直站在提供现代太阳能服务的最前沿，为生活在没有可靠电网供电地区的人口持续推进能源接入。通过点亮全球，国际金融公司和世界银行合作，加速发展离网太阳能市场，目前已覆盖亚洲、非洲、南太平洋以及美洲的近40个国家。国际金融公司与行业和当地各利益相关方紧密合作，共同构建市场；而世界银行支持各国政府打造政策扶持环境，提供融资措施，为市场的持续增长奠定良好的基础。
自2009年在肯尼亚启动第一个试点项目以来，在大体方法思路保持未变的同时，我们不断微调并校准我们的干预措施，以适应当地需求，加速技术开发和商业模式创新，挖掘市场潜力，关注能源接入优先事项。随着市场的成熟，我们开发了点亮全球工具包，旨在拓展行业前沿，解决行业创新障碍，增加多个细分市场的消费者准入。
我们的使命始于相互交织的目标——催化可持续的离网市场，使人们获得现代清洁能源服务。我们的目标一直是：让这个市场最终在没有我们持续的基础的市场支持的情况下发挥作用——我们持续的基础的市场支持这一点，对于行业最初的发展非常重要。如今，每年17.5亿美元的离网太阳能市场反映了一个由制造商、分销商、零售商、投资人、捐赠机构、开发人员和其他参与方在一起的一个充满活力的生态体系，同时表明我们已实现自己的目标，即：创建一个自我运行的市场。
点亮全球的未来
在这个生态中，国际金融公司将按计划于今年6月结束其在点亮全球下的市场开发支持活动。在能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP） 下，世界银行将继续支持点亮全球活动；随着进入下一阶段，我们更强调扩大融资和扶贫目标，以确保没有人掉队。
在能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP）领导下，点亮全球将继续利用世界银行的活动以及与各国政府的政策对话，不断扩大离网太阳能市场，以惠及仍无法获得能源接入的7.9亿人口。我们还将继续开展市场调研，公布市场调研成果，加强旗舰项目的合作，包括《市场趋势报告》和全球离网太阳能协会（GOGLA）暨点亮全球离网太阳能论坛，这是自2009年推出以来，支持全球市场的核心知识资源，每两年一期。点亮全球已使自己的最初目标——让2.5亿人口使用现代离网太阳能服务黯然失色，世界银行团队正在特别专注于为实现可持续发展目标7——到2030年实现能源普及，做出贡献。
由于国际金融公司离开点亮全球，一些必要的重新调整将出现，以更好地满足离网太阳能行业下一阶段的市场需求。国际金融公司核心的点亮全球活动现已适应当今市场，并由许多强有力的合作伙伴引领，这可使国际金融公司将重点转移到动员私人投资的根本任务上来，从而使商业化的市场达到所需规模，帮助实现2030年普及能源的目标。为此，我们将利用国际金融公司的投资资源，支持当地金融机构，向该行业提供所需的本币债权支持，并试点和帮助扩展新的金融工具，引导主流投资者聚集到资本饥渴行业。IFC-CGAP-GOGLA（国际金融公司–国际扶贫咨询协商组织–全球离网太阳能协会）在“PAYGO PERFORM”（即付即用模式）方面的合作将继续为这项事业提供支持。
国际金融公司的项目都是有一定的期限的，在未来的几个月，我们将利用国际金融公司项目影响评价过程，为该行业未来的项目活动提供信息，实现气候智能型经济发展。点亮全球行业合作将继续是这项工作的核心，包括与行业利益相关方进行“PAYGO PERFORM”（即付即用模式）和“Path to Profitability”（赢利途径）计划的合作。国际金融公司迄今为止开展的许多核心项目服务也将继续下去——通过能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP）点亮全球全球项目，通过国际金融公司在该行业的市场创造活动，或通过国际金融公司的实施合作伙伴。
将火炬传递给合作伙伴
我们帮助建立的独立合作伙伴和机构——其中两家突出的机构，GOGLA 和 VeraSol——现在将在点亮全球发起的一系列关键部门支持活动中发挥领导作用，并将继续提供基础支持，引领市场走向未来。
VeraSol，由 CLASP 和 Schatz 能源研究中心共同管理的全球行业合作伙伴，将继续作为产品质量的连接者，为离网行业、开发机构以及政府服务。作为点亮全球质量保证的升级项目，VeraSol 将继续界定和支持离网太阳能产品质量保证框架（之前称为点亮全球质量保证）（CLASP，电器能效组织，在能效标准和标识部署方面拥有雄厚专业知识的国际非政府组织），该框架对行业的成功起到了至关重要的作用。VeraSol 在成功的基础上将进一步扩大其质量保证服务，从照明产品扩展到离网设备测试。这一演变反映了离网太阳能市场不断变化的轨迹，并为互用性和进一步的行业多样化打开了大门。
GOGLA，全球离网太阳能协会，成立于2010年在内罗毕举行的第二届点亮全球大会，作为行业协会组织和点亮全球行业的稳定合作伙伴，它将继续为提供一系列由点亮全球开启的行业关键服务。除了多项行业支持和政策举措外，GOGLA 还将继续领导半年一次的产品销售报告，并将继续就两年一期的离网太阳能行业论坛及其《市场趋势报告》与点亮全球合作。
展望未来，消除能源贫困
通过点亮全球项目的不断发展和进阶，世界银行集团一如既往地致力于支持离网行业。为了实现联合国可持续发展目标7，离网行业必须发挥的重要作用已经确立，我们承诺继续部署世界银行集团的资源，支持离网太阳能市场，以实现这一目标。
其余未获得能源接入的家庭主要生活在农村、偏远地区、贫困地区，或生活在脆弱、冲突或暴力（FCV）的环境中。随着更容易接触到的人已经在很大程度上得到了这个行业的服务，能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP）领导下的点亮全球项目将更加关注如何通过离网市场惠及剩余的人口群体。
十多年风雨兼程，与君携手与共。作为国际金融公司与世界银行联合成立的点亮全球团队，我们深感荣幸，与大家一起见证了我们思想成熟的火花。我们为迄今为止共同取得的影响力倍感骄傲和自豪。展望未来，我们将继续攻坚克难，为更难触达的最后一公里的人群提供服务，让点亮全球项目的创新发展为他们带去光明。在能源部门管理援助计划（ESMAP）下，点亮全球将总结成功经验并汲取发展教训，扩大离网市场，到2030年实现能源普及。我们欢欣鼓舞，将与大家一道继往开来，深化发展这项光荣的事业。在我们开发世界银行和国际金融公司之间新的合作渠道的同时，保持点亮全球现有的最佳态势，改进服务不足，完成共同使命。
心系希望之光，让我们点亮全球！
Russell Sturm & Dana Rysankova