Deadline: 25-Nov-21
The Power Africa Off-grid Project (PAOP), a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-contracted project implemented by RTI International, seeks applications to fund one or multiple awards to provide incentives, in the form of grants, to qualified organizations/companies to promote the adoption and scale-up of off-grid technologies for productive use to boost productivity and economic growth in the Liberian market.
This RFA provides prospective applicants with a fair opportunity to develop and submit competitive applications to PAOP for potential funding.
This grant funding will support /promote the adoption and scale-up of off-grid technologies for productive use to boost productivity and economic growth in the Liberian market. Solutions that will be considered for grant funding are open to the proposer to define but must address one or more challenges faced by the PUE market. Solutions may include (but are not limited to) scaling up a sustainable business model, product sales, or service offering.
Challenges
Proposals must address at least one of the following challenges that are specific to the Liberian context:
- Increase availability of PUE products: Less than 5 percent of energy product and input supply firms currently have PUE products, such as solar irrigation pumps, solar dryers, and cold chain storage systems available for sale.
- Increase PUE product demand: There is currently a lack of awareness among farmers, businesses, and off-grid energy service providers of what Productive Use of Energy (PUE) products and inputs exist and how they can be used to increase productivity.
- Reduce high PUE product uptake costs and/or introduce financing options: The cost of PUE products is relatively high, and duties, VAT and other clearing costs increase the costs even more. The lack of local access to finance reduces the ability of energy product and input supply firms to invest in PUE products.
Funding Information
- RFA and submission of a final application are intended to be for a maximum of USD 150,000.
- The duration of programs funded under this RFA will be for a maximum period of 9 months from the date of award.
Eligible Technologies
- PUE technologies as anchor loads to mini-grids – preference will be given to existing mini-grids that would like to integrate PUE to stimulate end user electricity demand. The grant will not support the construction or expansion of solar mini-grids.
- Stand-alone solar PUE for the agricultural value chain – this could include solar irrigation systems; solar ag processing (grinding, milling, pressing, threshing); solar dryers (thermal and/or pv); solar cooling; solar sprayers; etc.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be a registered company/enterprise (including micro-enterprises or groups of micro-enterprises), associations, cooperatives, and cooperative unions in the country/ies they are proposing to work and be in operation for at least one year at the time of application. All Applicants should:
- Be legal persons;
- Be formally constituted at the time of grant award;
- Be compliant with the host country regulations (submit tax compliance certificate or equivalent);
- Have a physical presence in Liberia (employees, offices, operations, etc) or be partnering with an entity that has a physical presence in Liberia;
- Have realized revenues of at least USD25,000 within the calendar year 2019 and/or 2020.
For more information, visit https://www.rti.org/sites/default/files/productive_use_energy_rfa_final.pdf
