Status update — November 25, 2019
Kiva and Powergen have agreed to end their partnership after close to 6 years and over $67k in loans raised. This Lending Partner has repaid all its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Powergen for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Status update — March 12, 2018
Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status, which means that PowerGen is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva though Kiva expects the partner will continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders as long as the partner has an outstanding balance.

PowerGen’s overall strategic focus has shifted in the recent past, making it difficult to accommodate Kiva’s funding model within their current operations. Should an opportunity arise for us to work together again in future, Kiva will first conduct additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.

Partner description:

PowerGen is a Nairobi-based renewable energy enterprise that aims to improve access to electricity in rural regions of Kenya by providing underserved and isolated communities with power through micro-grid systems. PowerGen seeks not only to reduce dependence on inefficient, expensive and harmful forms of energy (e.g. kerosene) but also to unlock the potential contained within these communities by supplying them with enough power to drive forward economic growth.

Founded in 2013, PowerGen is a partner company to WindGen, a wind turbine manufacturer incorporated in 2011. Upon realizing that the East African market held  less demand for wind turbines than originally anticipated, WindGen created PowerGen to expand into other sources of renewable energy.

Since its inception, PowerGen has created 43 new power systems (e.g. solar), impacting close to 3,600 individuals across East Africa and helping to improve living conditions within homes, schools, orphanages, and health clinics. 

PowerGen’s primary product is the micro-grid, an array of solar panels and batteries wired to houses within a community that provides households with power comparable to the national grid. Each micro-grid is controlled by a mobile-enabled meter that calculates monthly consumption and allows bill payment via mobile-money platforms.

PowerGen currently operates two micro-grids: one on Remba Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, and one in the village of Sinda, in the Eastern Province Zambia.

A unique lending approach:

By partnering with Kiva, PowerGen will be able to provide micro-grids to underserved communities on credit, thereby vastly increasing the organization’s impact. Without Kiva funding, micro-grids would remain limited to households able to cover the full installation costs up-front.

Kiva lenders’ funds will be used to provide in-kind micro-grid loans to groups of borrowers with affordable interest rates and manageable loan terms.  Current loan terms vary between 2 and 7.5 years, with a flexible repayment schedule and interest rates between 5 and 10%. Once the loan is fully repaid, the grid will become the property of the community, and rates will be reduced to cover only the metering cost and ongoing maintenance.

In an effort to ensure sustainable and holistic development, prior to disbursing the loan PowerGen evaluates the community’s current power consumption and income generating activities, as well as the borrowers’ households’ status and commitment to the community.

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