A community discussion circle with women in a rural landscape at dusk
Global dialogue series · DRE for productive use

Powering Progress

A global dialogue series on the future of clean energy for productive use and economic opportunity — moving beyond technology to the ecosystem that makes scale possible.

In partnership with
Powering Livelihoods — A CEEW-Villgro initiative
CEEW — The Council
Villgro — possible.
5
Thematic sessions
Aug 2026 – Jan 2027
Running window

Innovation has outpaced the ecosystem around it.

Clean energy for productive use — solar dryers, cold rooms, processing units, clean cooling — has moved from pilots into commercial deployment across India and other developing economies, lifting farm productivity, reducing post-harvest losses, and enabling micro-enterprises along the way.

16.6M
jobs already created in renewable energy worldwide
IRENA, in collaboration with the ILO — Renewable Energy and Jobs, Annual Review 2025
Where scaling still gets stuck

Fragmented, inconsistent financing

Limited after-sales support

Uneven monitoring & impact data

Lack of standardisation

A fragmented sector narrative

Closing this gap needs manufacturers, financiers, governments, researchers, and implementers working from the same table — and that's what Powering Progress sets out to do: bringing practitioners, policymakers, enterprises, investors, and development organisations together to exchange practical experience and build consensus on how to scale, session by session.

Five objectives, one ecosystem

Show

Showcase proven commercial models of scaling for productive-use clean energy technologies.

Find

Identify the bottlenecks that still limit commercial expansion across markets.

Learn

Promote cross-learning across market-led models, data and impact metrics, unlocking financing, gender inclusion, after-sales, among others.

Align

Build consensus around practical solutions, partnerships, and policy recommendations.

Connect

Strengthen collaboration across government, private sector, development partners, and financiers.

The sessions

Each session ends in a published Action Brief — practical recommendations feeding straight into the DRE Knowledge Hub.

1
August 2026 Open for all Recording available

From innovation to scale: building commercial markets for clean energy for productive use solutions

Resource Hub
Speakers
To be announced
To be announced
To be announced

Despite years of successful pilots, commercial adoption remains limited. This session examines the bottlenecks blocking scale and how market demand, manufacturing, financing, distribution, policy, and after-sales services come together into a working ecosystem.

Innovation pipelineCommercial marketsDistribution & last-mileFinancing for expansion
Session leads
PLUSSD.LightBalwan Krishi
2
September 2026 Closed door

Measuring what matters: strengthening monitoring, evaluation and impact systems for clean energy transition

Resource Hub
Speakers
To be announced
To be announced
To be announced

Robust evidence attracts finance and shapes policy — but inconsistent monitoring across programmes makes outcomes hard to compare. A practical look at impact measurement across enterprises, implementers, and ecosystem programmes.

Impact indicatorsDigital data collectionCarbon & climate metricsStandardised reporting
3
October 2026 Open for all

Financing the future: mobilising Green Climate Fund for productive use clean energy

Resource Hub
Speakers
To be announced
To be announced
To be announced

Finance remains the largest barrier to scale. A focused look at blended finance, public-private partnerships, and government convergence that can make these solutions affordable and commercially viable.

Blended financeImpact investingCredit guaranteesResults-based financing
4
November 2026 Open for all

Changing the narrative: positioning clean energy as a driver of livelihoods, inclusion and rural development

Resource Hub
Speakers
To be announced
To be announced
To be announced

Beyond energy access, today's innovations drive enterprise growth, food systems resilience, women's economic empowerment, and rural industrialisation. How different stakeholders can tell that fuller story.

Gender & livelihoodsRural entrepreneurshipGreen jobsStorytelling & evidence
5
January 2027 Closed door

Beyond deployments: building a resilient after-sales ecosystem for cleantech technologies

Resource Hub
Speakers
To be announced
To be announced
To be announced

Adoption doesn't end at installation. Maintenance, spare parts, remote monitoring, warranties, and local service networks are what keep technologies trusted and performing over time.

Local servicingRemote diagnosticsWarranty & AMC modelsPublic procurement

Expected outputs

Beyond each individual session, the series is built to bring ecosystem stakeholders together to share and exchange ideas and experience of scaling clean-energy-powered livelihood innovations — sparking interest in replicating what's already working across geographies and sectors.

Per session

Action Briefs

A published brief after each session summarising key recommendations and practical takeaways for the sector.

Ongoing

DRE Knowledge Hub

An archive of recordings, presentations, and resources from all six dialogues, built out as the series runs.

Beyond the series

Community of practice

Partnership opportunities and an ongoing network connecting stakeholders across government, industry, finance, and development.