Solar water pumping systems in Cambodia

Energy Solutions

© Photo: PIN Cambodia

Across the world, access to reliable and affordable energy is a significant challenge, particularly in rural and remote areas of developing countries. 

In 2022, around 685 million people still lack access to electricity, 80% of whom in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: Tracking SDG 7 report, 2024)

Moreover, up to 2.1 billion people still have no access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, relying instead on traditional biomass sources such as firewood and charcoal or fossil fuels such as coal, which have harmful impacts on health and drive climate change. 

Key barriers 

Households with low incomes often have the least access to reliable energy sources. They are particularly vulnerable to energy poverty and its negative social, environmental and economic impacts. Inadequate energy infrastructure, financial constraints, policy and regulatory barriers, and technological limitations impede progress towards sustainable energy. Climate change exacerbates these challenges, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These events can disrupt energy systems and exacerbate energy access disparities by increasing the demand for energy.

Sustainable energy for all

Energy access must be at the forefront of efforts to achieve sustainable development and climate resilience, as access to energy is a precondition to climate change resilience. Ensuring universal energy access is essential if we want to achieve sustainable development goals, lift people out of poverty, and build resilient and prosperous communities.

Globally, our work in addressing climate change focuses on enhancing the resilience of people vulnerable to a changing climate and environmental degradation. We work to harness green energy sources that can reduce, sequester, and store carbon. Off-grid renewable energy sources such as solar and biogas, improving energy efficiency to reduce household costs, or low carbon and clean energy technologies for cooking are some of the solutions offered by leveraging market-based approaches. 

Our expertise

At PIN, we have more than 15 years of experience enabling access to sustainable energy markets. We support access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy across a range of different contexts, and this is one of our critical measures in achieving climate-resilient development. Our energy programming supports both climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The approaches we use are: 

  • In-depth analysis to understand and address root causes and barriers that prevent the adoption of sustainable energy
  • Last mile support to underserved people, e.g. through off-grid renewable energy solutions
  • Provision of market-based solutions and private sector engagement through stimulating the supply and demand of products and services;
  • Drive inclusive change through systemic change that supports the relevant market, government, and civil society actors;
  • Promote innovations both technically and financially and play a key role in accelerating the switch to renewable energy.

A portfolio of several past and current initiatives has been created in years, spanning from access to renewable energy solutions (for instance, through household biogas for cooking in Zambia, solar panels installation in Iraqi schools, or household solar off-grid plants in the Philippines and Cambodia), to energy efficient (for instance CHIP - Cooking, Heating, Insulation Package in Mongolia or supporting energy efficiency in buildings in BiH).


Innovations include solar cooling systems, solar drying systems in Cambodia, and smart energy solutions to tackle pollution in Ulaanbaatar.




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