(OCEF ) - Since mid-2017 the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) off-grid electrification effort has been made to support the development of clean and efficient energy solutions where traditional distribution channels do not exist in Benin. To this end, the Off Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF), a challenge fund which provides grant financing to proven, sustainable off-grid clean energy projects has been established in Benin. OCEF grant fund is available to support business plans for sustainable off-grid electrification efforts.

With the recent adoption in October 2018 of an off-grid policy, strategy, regulatory framework and master plan by the Benin’s government, OCEF launches a second round of call for proposals.

A total of 20 million US Dollars is available in the form of grants to support project proponents to develop and operate a sustainable off-grid electrification activity in Benin. The Off Grid Clean Energy Facility invites project developers to submit their proposals from December 06, 2018 to March 8, 2019. The call for proposals is open for national and international private companies, NGOs, public entities, community organizations, energy efficiency project promoters and other institutions. Please visit the website www.ocef.bj for more information and submit a proposal.

The second call for proposals includes rural electrification activities under 4 windows:

1. Window 1: Off-grid energy for essential public infrastructure such as street lighting, hospitals, public health centers, courts, universities, schools, and other community infrastructure.
2. Window 2: Decentralized generation and distribution of electricity via mini-grids or micro-grids for community and/or productive use as presented in the master Plan for Rural Electrification (https://www.benin-energie.org/ )
3. Window 3: Household Energy Systems. Support to companies to import, sell, distribute, install, and maintain household-level PV technologies including solar home kits and other similar products for irrigation.
4. Window 4: Support to business models for implementation of energy efficiency measures by public institutions, households and commercial and industrial users.

The Off Grid Clean Energy Facility invites project developers to submit their proposals by March 8, 2019. The call for proposals is open to national and international private companies, NGOs, public entities, community organisations, energy efficiency project promoters and other institutions. The selected project developers are expected to begin implementation in 2019 and are expected to being operational within a 24 month period. For more information on the call for proposals, visit the website www.ocef.bj .

In February 2018 OCEF launched a first Call for Proposals by announcing the availability of 12 million USD of grant funding for rural electrification solutions in Benin. Some 39 applications were received for the first and third window mainly. A total of 10 project proposals have been provisionally selected among which 2 were placed on the reserve list. The 10 project proposals are still under review; the project developers jointly requested $14 million for OCEF support and proposed $23 million of own contributions towards the realization of their business plans.

About OCEF

The Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF) is a $USD 32 million shared-cost fund over five-years (2017-2022) to co-finance profitable off-grid renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Benin. OCEF is part of the Off-Grid Electricity Access project financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America and implemented by the Millennium Challenge Account-Benin II.