Grameen Shakti

Need:

Access to energy is a fundamental condition for economic development. Failing to fulfill this condition, especially the access to electricity, means to exclude people from the benefits of modern technology. In Bangladesh, however, over 60 percent of people do not have access to electricity. No more than 12 percent of the Bangladeshi population have electricity access over the whole day making it impossible for them to effectively study or work after dusk.

Grameen Social Business solution:

In the face of this deficiency, Grameen Shakti was founded in 1996 for the purpose of selling solar energy collectors especially to the poor rural population in Bangladesh. Customers can pay their solar collectors in monthly rates over a period of two to three years. The rates are collected by Grameen Shakti engineers who are also ready to provide maintenance services for a small fee. Besides the access to energy, Grameen Shakti gives poor people new working opportunities as technicians or operators of chargeable television kiosks.
In addition Grameen Shakti sells biogas plants which convert biomass into methane. The methane can either be used as a combustible or with the according equipment to generate electricity.
Currently Grameen Shakti is one of the largest and fastest growing rural-based renewable energy companies in the world, installing over 4,000 solar energy collectors per month.
Therefore Grameen Shakti demonstrates that contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by the United Nations is not in any way contradictory to being a financially successful and expanding business.

Outlook:

Operating as a highly successful Grameen Social Business, Grameen Shakti plans to set up 1000 unit offices in the next 5 years to install one million solar energy collectors by 2015. Furthermore the installation of 100,000 biogas plants is planned by 2010.

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