USAID’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy (SURE) program helps partner countries meet bold international climate commitments by accelerating their transition to more widely accessible, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy that spurs inclusive economic growth and reduces emissions.

Through SURE, USAID provides renewable energy planning, procurement, grid integration, and circular economy support services. SURE’s training, tools, and resources help policymakers, utilities, and regulators modernize energy sectors and create policies that enable renewable energy markets to flourish. SURE also promotes an inclusive and just energy transition to accelerate social and economic progress that benefits more people.

2022 Highlights

In 2022, SURE helped USAID partner countries accelerate the transition to clean energy and move closer to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Modernizing Grids for the Energy Transition

SURE helped policymakers and power utilities increase flexibility in the power grid and adopt higher shares of variable renewable energy by developing a framework to easily map and communicate grid modernization investments. When power utilities integrate utility-scale and distributed energy resources in a cost-effective way, countries can ease and accelerate their transition to clean energy. Consumers enjoy lower electricity prices and uninterrupted service and can participate more equally as prosumers.

Restructuring Energy Infrastructure for Resilience

In partnership with SURE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Providencia Island in Colombia developed an Energy Master Plan that outlines clear steps to diversify the island’s energy mix after Hurricane Iota by installing renewable energy. The shift toward renewable energy and storage is estimated to save 30 percent in diesel generator fuel consumption. As part of the Providencia effort, SURE also provided technical support to the Ministry of Mines and Energy in defining the strategy and action for the development of transport electrification in Providencia. As clean energy and energy efficiency rise, carbon emissions, local pollutants, fuel expenditures, operating costs, and subsidies will fall significantly.

Supporting an Inclusive and Just Energy Transition

SURE is supporting partner countries to design renewable energy auctions and workforce development programs to help historically marginalized communities maintain control of their land and resources and benefit from a just and inclusive energy transition. In Colombia, USAID, the Government of Colombia, and the National Training Service (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, SENA) are providing young people in Indigenous Wayuu communities with the skills needed to work in renewable energy projects in La Guajira, an impoverished region that is home to most of the country’s new renewable energy projects. Thirty-seven students, including 21 women, from 13 communities in Guajira attended the job training program. As a result of the SURE job training program, the most marginalized members of the Indigenous Wayuu community—women and young adults—will be more prepared to participate in the local clean energy job market without having to sacrifice their traditional values and culture. The companies investing in Colombia’s renewable energy economy in Guajira will be supported by a more capable workforce, and Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy and SENA will have a fully developed, culturally tailored curriculum for a sustainable local workforce training program.

Advancing Gender Lens Investing in Energy

SURE helps advance gender equality in the energy sector by supporting financial institutions that offer financing for renewable energy and energy efficient technologies in rural and agricultural communities. SURE works with investment officers to increase access to capital for women, invest in companies committed to gender equality in the workplace, and prioritize investments in companies that provide products and services that benefit women and girls. In Colombia, SURE worked with the Non-Conventional Energies and Energy-Efficiency Fund (FENOGE) to develop its Gender and Diversity Policy. Applying a gender lens to an organization’s investment portfolio can result in higher returns on investments for firms that have more diverse investment teams. It can also help shift structural inequality within the agricultural value chain by making resources, services, and opportunities available to more women. This can lead to transformative impacts for women and girls such as greater socioeconomic status and more time for income-generating activities. With more financial agency, women may experience less gender-based violence and have greater opportunity for participation in political and social life.

Promoting Innovation and Sustainability in Senegal

SURE is strengthening local businesses in Senegal by awarding USAID grant funding to catalyze renewable energy innovation. Through awards of up to $625,000, local water and equipment providers will utilize off-grid energy equipment and business support to convert diesel-powered and manual water pumping systems to solar power. Selected projects will convert 120 sites to solar power, resulting in lower operating costs for water suppliers, improved service quality for 677,000 consumers, reduced greenhouse gas emissions of over 2,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, and economic growth for women and youth. USAID highlighted this SURE grant program at the 9th World Water Forum.