CEI Africa User Guides

CEI Africa User Guides

The CEI Africa (CEI Africa) uses the CEI Africa portal of Odyssey exclusively for all RBF-related activities. Submissions outside of the platform will not be accepted. Please read the guide thoroughly for instructions on how to submit an application to the CEI Africa. 


In addition to this participation guide, please review the complete Odyssey user guides and FAQs to troubleshoot any issues, or reach out to the Odyssey support team via the support chat box in the bottom right corner of the application.


1. Review program information

  • Select the Finance > Programs tab from the left navigation bar

  • Click into the CEI Africa from the programs list

  • Click the Resources section

  • View and download the program documents

    • Select the documents or folders you would like to download 

    • Click the Download button

    • Read all program documents thoroughly before submitting your program application to ensure that you understand all the requirements of the program.

2. Submit your Pre-Qualification Application

Applicants must submit an application for the Pre-Qualification stage of CEI Africa. Applicants must demonstrate that they are eligible and qualified to enter the Site-Specific Project Application phase of the CEI Africa Program.

  • Select the Application tab

  • Complete the CEI Africa application in the Form section

    • Click the Save button periodically to ensure your work is not lost

    • Required questions have red asterisks (*). You will not be able to submit your application until all required fields have been completed. Make sure your responses stay within the word limits or you will not be able to submit.

  • Click Attachments at the top of the tab

  • Upload your supporting documents

  • Submit your program application

    • Ensure all required fields are completed and all required documents have been uploaded

    • Click the Submit button

      • You will not see the Submit button until you have completed all the required questions. Once submitted you may no longer make edits to your application.

  • Check your Submission Status

  • Navigate to the list in the Programs section; your submission status is listed in the Status column.

  • If your application has been successfully submitted, the status will say "Submitted"

  • If your application is successful, the status of the application will change from “In Review” to “Selected” in your Programs list.

  • You will also receive an email notification of any changes to your application status. See a description of each status below:

  • Submitted: Your Qualification application has been received.

  • In Review: Your application is being reviewed.

  • Incomplete: Your application is incomplete and requires additional information. Your application has been re-opened to allow editing. Once you add the required information, you can re-submit your application for review.

  • Selected: Your application has been reviewed and accepted. You may begin a Site-Specific Project Application for the program.

  • Not Selected: Your application has been reviewed and was not selected.

  • You can also communicate with the program administrator via the Messages section. To do this Navigate to Finance > Programs >CEI Africa > Messages. 

3. Submit the Site-Specific Project Application

Once your Pre-Qualification application has been Selected, you may submit applications for individual projects (e.g. specific mini-grid sites) on a rolling basis. 

Create a Project
  1. Navigate to the Assets section within the CEI Africa program or the My Projects section and create a project, or add an existing project to the program. Learn more about Creating a Project. 
  2. On the Information tab, select "CEI Africa" from the Program dropdown in order to assign the project to the CEI Africa program. You MUST assign the project to the CEI Africa in order to be able to submit.

Complete the project data modules

Complete the initial technical analysis for the project. Please read an overview of each project module as well as the CEI Africa requirements (as stated in the CEI Africa Operating Manual and Project Applications Instructions) for completing each module below. Detailed instructions for how to use each module can be followed in the pre-development user guides.

Information
  1. The information module of the project contains the site information that was provided when creating the project. Learn more about completing your site information.
  2. Submitting a grid densification project? Complete this section with information on the existing site.

Load

  1. In the load module, you will provide information on the number and type of customers as well as the projected load profile. Learn more about creating a load assessment.
  2. Submitting a grid densification project? Please follow the steps below:
    1. Tracking existing customers - create a customer type for each existing customer group and name the customer type “Existing _ [Customer type name]”
    2. Tracking new customers - create a customer type for each new customer group you plan to serve through the grid densification upgrades and name the customer type “New _ [Customer type name]”



Generation Design
  1. Once your load profile in Odyssey is complete, you can design a generation system.
  2. Odyssey is integrated with HOMER Energy to enable rapid system design based on your load assessment.  Learn more about designing your generation system
  3. CEI Africa Requirement: 
    1. The proposed generation design must have a load availability of at least 90% and renewable energy production of 80%, verified via the CEI Africa Platform’s embedded HOMER module. 
    2. Submitting a grid densification project?
      1. Complete information on each component in your existing mini-grid and enter $0 for the Total Unit Cost for all components existing at the site 

      1. If you are expanding the generation system:
        1. Deselect the toggle next to Enable HOMER Optimization to disable HOMER at the top of the page.
        2. Drag and drop a second component into your system for all new components being added to the system and include the Total Unit Cost of the components related to your grid expansion

Distribution Design

  1. Input capital expenditures related to the distribution network and customer connections. Learn more about inputting distribution design costs.
  2. CEI Africa Requirements:
    1. A file must be uploaded with the distribution design layout.
    2. Grantees must use customer metering solutions that can be integrated with the CEI Africa Platform to enable remote verification of the connections.
  3. Submitting a grid densification project? 
    1. Include the costs and balance of materials required for the expansion of the distribution system at the grid densification site.

General Costs

  1. Input general costs related to site development and operating expenses. Learn more about tracking general costs.
  2. Submitting a grid densification project?
    1. Include any other costs related to grid densification.

Revenue

  1. The Revenues module calculates your revenues based on your defined tariff structure and forecasted load profile. Learn more about entering your tariff structure. 
  2. Submitting a grid densification project?
    1. Complete this section with the tariff structure you are charging for new and existing customers at the site.

Financial

  1. In the Financials section, you will enter project-level sensitivities and account for ramping/growth rates for your load assessment. The financial page uses all the information you entered into Odyssey to calculate key financial metrics. Learn more about calculating project financials.

Create Your Portfolio

  1. Navigate to the My Projects section of Odyssey
  2. Select the projects you want to include in your submission
  3. Navigate to the clipboard icon at the top of the page and click on Create Portfolio
  4. Name your portfolio and select the checkbox next to Create Portfolio for Financing (Tenders, RFPs, Investors)
  5. Click the Create button. Learn more about creating your portfolio.

Complete your Portfolio

  1. Complete the form in the Business Plan section of the portfolio 
  2. Upload the required documents in the portfolio Data Room
    1. Use the document checklist to check the required documents. Check off the checkboxes next to the required documents to ensure you are uploading all necessary documentation. Learn more about the portfolio Data Room.

Submit your Site-Specific Project Application

  1. Navigate to the Portfolio Submission section of the portfolio 
  2. Click on Submit Proposal to submit your Site Qualification to CEI Africa

4. Report on your Milestones

After successful signing of the grant agreement, the CEI Africa program requires that you provide a monthly update on the development status of your site by the 15th of each month. Follow the steps below to provide this status update: to do this;
  1. Within each project, select the Milestones tab from the top navigation bar
  2. Select the milestone to open it and ten click on Edit Milestone to give a status update
  3. Provide a status update for each milestone, details on the milestone progress, and any documentation
A description of the development statuses is provided below:
  1. Purchase Order Assets- Proof of procurement. Please upload your LPO and other procurement documentation in the Photos / Documentation column.
  2. All Goods Received (Cleared Customs) - When imported assets have cleared customs, or in-country assets have been purchased locally. Please upload your Clearance certificate or similar notification in the Photos / Documentation column.
  3. Under Construction - Proof of start of construction phase. Please upload your work plan and site photos in the Photos / Documentation column.
  4. Commissioned - Proof of completion of site construction. Please upload your Commissioning Report in the Photos / Documentation column. Please integrate your smart meter payment and consumption data. Once the connections have been operational for 90 days, submit proof of verified customer connections to the CEI Africa Program Administrators in the Connections section of your project in Odyssey.

Additional Milestones

You can customize additional Milestones for your projects by:
  1. Click on the Plus Milestones sign in the Additional Milestones section
  2. Input the milestone that you want to report on and a description of it and then click on Add Milestone to create it
  3. Select the newly created myleston from the list below 
  4. Click on Edit Milestone to provide a status and any required details
  5. Click on Confirm to save it.

5. Project Implementation

Once your mini-grid project has been commissioned, you will track details of new mini-grid customers who have gained access to electricity and submit proofs of customer connection for grant disbursement. 


  • Integrate Meter Data

  1. Odyssey enables you to integrate operating data in the data integrations section of Odyssey. For connection remote verification, Odyssey automatically checks your meter consumption and payment data integrated with Odyssey to verify that your connections have been supplied electricity and meet program requirements.
  2. Once your site has been commissioned, please complete your meter integration as soon as possible so your data will be available when you are ready to complete remote verification. Learn more about setting up a data integration.


  • Upload Connection data on mini-grid customers

    • Navigate to the Connections module of your commissioned mini-grid project

    • Click Download Template to download the Excel template, fill out the required fields, and upload the completed version

    • Click “Import/update connections,” which will allow you to select the completed template file to upload.

    • Make any necessary changes directly in the software by clicking on a connection or by clicking “Download connections” and re-uploading the updated file.

    • Please see a list of the data requested below:


Field Name
Description
Meter Serial Number
A unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to uniquely identify it. A serial number for a hardware device is often on the bottom or back of the device.
Customer Name
Can be legal name of a natural person/individual or legal name of a business/institution (private or public)
Gender of Primary Account Holder
Male or Female
Customer Category
Select from the dropdown: Anchor, Commercial, Productive, Public, Residential
Customer Location (Site)
The Mini grid that serves the customer
Customer Location (Village)
The specific village where the customer is located
Customer Location (State)
For each country there is a dropdown of regions. Select from the drop down options provided

Phone Number
Phone number to include country/area code
Customer Latitude
The latitude of the customer being connected to the mini-grid. The latitude should be formatted XX.XXX
Customer Longitude
The Longitude of the customer being connected to the mini-grid. It should be in the format XX.XXX
Date Connected
Specify the date the connection was connected to power using a YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g. 2024-12-30)


  • Complete remote verification and submit 

    • You will upload connections and complete remote verification in the Connections module of each project. Learn more about completing remote verification and submitting your connections.

    • Once you select 'Verify', the verification process will be Initiated and the status of each of them will be displayed. Review the meaning of each status below:

      • Verification in progress: The request to verify the connection has been sent.

      • Payment not found: A payment document could not be found for the external ID of the connection.

      • Data out of date range: At least one document was found, but not within the date range of the rule.

      • Didn’t meet requirements: At least one document was found in the date range, but it doesn’t meet the requirements.

      • Error during verification: An unexpected error occurred.

      • Verified: Verification was successful

    • CEI Africa Requirement: CEI Africa requires that a meter has consumption for greater than a 90 day period

  • Submit Connections

    • Check the Submittable column to see whether the required information on each connection has been provided.

      • If the column says “Yes,” you have provided the required information and can submit your connections. 

      • If the column is red and contains “No,” you are either missing required data or your connection has already been submitted. Filter by “No” to see which connections need additional information.

    • Once your connections are ready to submit, you can select them and choose "Submit."

      • Choose Submit All (Filtered) Connections from the dropdown menu to submit all connections. 

    • To submit individual connections, select the checkbox next to the connections and then select Submit > Selected Connections.

  • View your connections status

  • Once you have submitted connections, the CEI Africa administrators will review your connections and either mark the connections as Approved, Paid, or Rejected. You can view a summary of the status of all connections in the summary at the top of the Connections module and will be notified by email of any connection status updates.




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