Power / Energy Technologies Futures

Energy Technologies Futures

Current Initiative

Overview

Despite significant cost reductions across various energy technologies, developing countries and vulnerable communities are being left behind. The traditional approach to scaling mature technologies in developing markets only after they are at the bottom of the cost curve will not achieve energy abundance in-line with economic growth and development targets. Introducing frontier or high-impact (but early-stage) energy technologies and building the frameworks and ecosystems needed to embrace them could significantly accelerate the time to adoption and help countries achieve their development goals faster. However, without deliberate efforts to focus research, product development, and deployments in LMICs, the impacts of new technologies on the communities that could most benefit from them will be left unrealized.

The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting partners to develop and scale innovative solutions to significantly reduce costs for energy systems in emerging markets. This includes leveraging home-grown solutions and venture building in the markets we work in. We partner with leading global researchers, universities, ventures, and investors to link cutting-edge ideas to decision-makers.

Why It Matters

  •  
    0%%

    reduction in the price

    of critical renewable technologies has occurred globally over the last decade, but developers in Sub-Saharan Africa still face costs that are nearly 2-5x higher

  •  
    0%%

    of global energy technology

    and climate tech venture capital (VC) funding in 2024 went to Africa, despite the continent accounting for 18% of the global population and 5% of global GDP

  •  
    0%%

    reduction in total system

    costs can be achieved by incorporating nuclear power generation into the energy systems of low- and middle-income countries

Featured Content

Back to Top