Achieving universal energy access by 2030 will require a mix of commercial investment and community programmes tailored to those who cannot access or afford energy solutions without support.

That’s why, in collaboration with communities and a diverse range of partner organisations, our Social Investment teams develop market-based programmes that provide access to clean and affordable energy for some of the world’s most remote and vulnerable people.

Our energy access partners

Strong partnerships are essential to deliver sustainable, impactful and relevant access to energy programmes. Since 2014, Shell has worked with Mercy Corps, to extend the benefits of energy access projects to vulnerable groups, including refugees and displaced people. 

Shell is a founding partner and continues to support the Clean Cooking Alliance which aims to achieve universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030. Read more about our partnership with the Clean Cooking Alliance here.

We work with local and international NGOs, humanitarian organisations, SMEs and social enterprises to design, implement and evaluate our programmes including:

 

 

Access to energy during COVID-19

  • Around 800 million people still lack access to electricity and hundreds of millions more have an unreliable supply.
  • COVID-19 is reversing progress towards ensuring universal access to energy
  • To help address this, Shell granted $1.7 million to six renewable energy companies providing energy in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda to help support customers in financial difficulty because of the pandemic.
  • So far over 800.000 people have been reached.

Title: ACCESS TO ENERGY DURING COVID-19

Duration: 0:47 minutes

Description: 

A short video of the access to energy support given during COVID-19.

Access to energy during COVID-19 transcript

[Background music plays]

Calm orchestral music plays.

[Video footage]

Scene showing a light bulb that turns on.

[Text displays]

Have you turned a light on today?

[Video footage]

Scene showing a man behind a market stall squeezing oranges.

[Text displays]

COVID-19 is disrupting progress towards universal access to energy.

[Video footage]

Scene showing a fish surrounded by animated ice cubes on a blue background.

[Text displays]

Many people can’t earn daily wages and face increased food prices. 

[Video footage]

Scene showing a light bulb turning off and background going darker. 

[Text displays]

There is less money to power homes and businesses.

[Background music plays]

Background music turns bit more cheerful.

[Video footage]

Scene showing three workers with personal protection equipment installing a solar panel.

[Text displays]

Shell provided grants to six renewable energy companies to help keep the lights on in homes, businesses, schools, hospitals.

[Video footage]

Scene showing six company logos.

[Text displays]

Together we’ve reached 800,000 people..

[Video footage]

Company logos disappear and new text moves in.

[Text displays]

Together we’ve reached 800,000 people.. …and counting

[Video footage]

Scene shows a cheerful family eating.

[Text displays]

For more information visit www.shell.com/accesstoenergy

[Video footage]

Shell logo appears onscreen.

Picture of six boys looking at a mobile phone

Enter energy: delivering energy access for displaced people and host communities

Enter Energy is Shell’s global initiative to develop sustainable ways of delivering energy access for displaced people and host communities. We are collaborating with humanitarian and private sector partners to offer access to more and cleaner energy choices.

Providing energy choices for displaced people is far too complex a challenge for one country, community or company to solve. The report “Access to more: creating energy choices for refugees” outlines how humanitarian agencies, governments and the private sector can collaborate to improve how refugees and their host communities access energy.

Download report

Picture of six boys looking at a mobile phone

From kiosk to community

The tiny Filipino village of Sitio Lagpan is situated on the Palawan Peninsula, which boasts some of the world’s most beautiful white-sand beaches, coral reefs and limestone cliffs. To the northwest of Palawan is Shell’s Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power project, which generates up to 30 percent of electricity in the Philippines. But Sitio Lagpan is too small and too isolated to be connected to the national grid. It is this isolation that prompted Shell to partner with the community and an experienced local charity to help bring energy – and unexpected change to Sitio Lagpan.

Read more about how clean water from a solar powered well has transformed life in a small Filipino community.

Read the case study