This session will present case studies showing the lessons we have learned in multiple rural energy access projects in Eastern and Southern Africa, addressing the traditional difficulty in achieving financial sustainability, affordability and load factor in minigrids. We will argue from our research and experience in the field that the technology and design choices adopted for minigrids in off-grid rural communities are often unsuitable, and make sustainable operations almost impossible -- especially where those communities are widely spread. We will present data from systems we have created, which integrate community energy and productive-use anchor loads in innovative technology and business models, showing how this generates not only social impact but also sustained economic benefit to the community as a whole, and for the operators of the installation. Combining this socio-economic impact with energy access and community resilience, our model is extremely suitable for scaling in remote off-grid rural communities as well as island sites, and should generate not only faster and larger returns on investment for developers, but also help achieve SDG7 and other SDGs more rapidly.

Key Learning Points:

• Challenges for minigrid sustainability with current technology and operating models
• Better integration of productive uses and energy provision into systems to meet community priorities
• Generating superior economic returns for developers and socioeconomic impact for users
• Integrated minigrid approaches and community resilience outcomes

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