DRC-Kenya Learning Exchange on Inclusive Energy Planning

By Florence Gichoya

Energy stakeholders from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya participated in a five-day learning exchange workshop on ‘Accelerating Development Through Inclusive Energy Planning’ in Naivasha, Kenya, on July 1-5, 2024.

The participants of the five-day learning exchange included provincial government officials, energy regulators, and civil society representatives from the DRC, as well as national government and civil society representatives from Kenya.

The goal of the learning workshop was to build knowledge of the DRC participants on the Kenyan energy planning context and understand the experience of inclusive, cross-sectoral county planning using the Energy Delivery Model (EDM) approach, in order to identify potential for replication in the DRC.

Dan Marangu, Director, Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum-Kenya, gave the keynote address and emphasized the importance of adopting a multi-stakeholder approach in energy planning. Energy is an enabler and facilitates socio-economic development across sectors. “Energy lies at the heart of both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Multi-stakeholder engagement during the energy planning process helps to promote more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive communities,” he said.

Jimmy Munguriek, Country Director, Resource Matters (DRC), highlighted the need to have all stakeholders on board in energy planning. This will contribute to increasing energy access to the last mile communities. “The rate of energy access in the DRC is at 20 percent of the population. Without energy, there is no development. We want to learn from Kenya’s success of energy planning at the county and national level using the EDM approach,” he said.

The EDM is a participatory planning approach that aims to ensure energy services are designed to meet the development needs of target communities as part of holistic solutions. EDM approaches energy as an enabler of wider development, not as an end in itself, and works with end-users and other stakeholders in a six-step process to identify their priority needs, and the gaps or barriers that stop them from meeting these needs. EDM builds sustainable solutions, including non-energy supporting services.

The Learning Exchange was co-hosted by the 11^th Hour Project, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation, in collaboration with Resource Matters, the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED), the Sustainable Energy Transitions: Energy, Environment, and Resilience (STEER), Loughborough University, and the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations for Clean Energy Access (ACCESS Coalition).

Rebeka Ramangamihanta from the 11^th Hour Project stated that access to energy is a fundamental human right. She observed that the “learning exchange had showcased how sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy, plays a key role in unlocking our collective vision for holistic, people-centered, and ecologically sound development for all African communities.”

Multi-stakeholder engagement during the energy planning process is key to fostering more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive communities. The EDM approach builds stakeholder buy-in and aims for financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable solutions.

The participants from the DRC gained understanding of the EDM approach as an inclusive, cross-sectoral methodology used for energy planning. They learnt of key enabling policies for energy planning in Kenya, including the Integrated National Energy Planning (INEP) process and the development of county energy plans and their links to county development planning to enable holistic development.

As part of the learning exchange, the participants visited two renewable energy sites in Nakuru, Kenya. They learnt about the projects’ impact in meeting the energy demands of end users in the community.

At the end of the workshop, the participants from DRC developed a roadmap for developing inclusive energy plans that prioritize end-user needs and adopt the Energy Delivery Model approach.