Funding target: ten Reliable Power Microgrids (Oct 2026)
Provisional, 21 Oct 2026. Owner: Aaron Tushabe. NFE's working fundraising target for the revised funders' pitch. Nothing here is committed: the allowances are planning figures until site assessments and EPC quotes come in, and the funders' pitch page stays unchanged until the deployment milestones are set.
The target
US$500,000 of total programme capital to target ten new Reliable Power Microgrids in Uganda over an indicative 18 months:
- 7 Commercial RPMs (70%, within the 60–80% commercial mix) and 3 Residential RPMs
- US$315,000 for installations, and US$185,000 for monitoring, project preparation, delivery capacity, software, working capital and contingency
- US$550,000 if we want room for a fourth residential site while keeping the full contingency
Illustrative portfolio
| Deployment type | Number | Indicative battery size | Installed allowance each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller Commercial RPM | 3 | 30–40 kWh | US$15,000 | US$45,000 |
| Medium Commercial RPM | 3 | 60–80 kWh | US$25,000 | US$75,000 |
| Large Commercial RPM (Worship Harvest scale) | 1 | ~120 kWh | US$45,000 | US$45,000 |
| Residential RPM | 3 | Site-dependent | US$50,000 | US$150,000 |
| Installations | 10 | US$315,000 | ||
| Monitoring, preparation, delivery, software, working capital, contingency | US$185,000 | |||
| Programme total | US$500,000 |
The commercial allowances cover solar, inverters and installation, not just the battery, and average about US$23,600 per commercial site.
How the figure was reached
| Step | Target | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| First pass | US$600,000 | 7 commercial + 3 residential sites; about US$430,000 for installations |
| Checked against NFE's July 2026 SRNE supplier price list | US$650,000 | Equipment for a ~120 kWh / 60 kW / 40 kWp commercial system came to about US$30,750 before the remaining installation costs, so the plan allowed US$45,000 per commercial site and US$50,000 per residential site |
| Worship Harvest treated as one of the larger sites, not the average (Aaron) | US$500,000 | Commercial sites split into 3 smaller, 3 medium and 1 Worship Harvest-scale; the US$185,000 non-installation budget kept |
Assumptions and caveats
- Residential scope is the biggest uncertainty. US$50,000 per site assumes modest communities with usable existing distribution. Larger communities, extensive new wiring or longer backup would raise it. It needs its own sizing review.
- Allowances, not quotes. Every installation figure waits on site assessments and EPC quotations.
- No offsets assumed. Customer deposits, future revenue and uncommitted loans are not counted against the requirement.
- Exchange rate. The allowances are in dollars, while local quotes come in shillings and the shilling has been volatile (Macro outlook). For comparison, the Worship Harvest model CAPEX of UGX 120–145m is roughly US$29–35k at about UGX 4,150 per dollar, so the US$45,000 allowance leaves room for a complete deployment.
- Sources of capital. The draft treats this as total programme capital that could combine grants and project finance. ChatGPT's draft also mentions "patient equity", but the Fundraising Tracker records that NFE no longer pursues equity funders because, as a co-op, it has no equity to offer. Settle the wording before the pitch goes out.
Draft pitch line
NFE is raising US$500,000 to target ten new Reliable Power Microgrids in Uganda, with 60–80% of deployments serving commercial facilities and the remainder serving residential communities. Over an indicative 18-month programme, this capital will fund customer assessments, microgrid installations, and the software and operating capacity needed to deliver reliable electricity as a service.
ChatGPT's wording, with the figure updated from US$650,000 to the revised US$500,000.
Still to settle
- Deployment milestones for the pitch (needed before the web page changes)
- Residential site sizing review
- 7 + 3 sites (US$500,000) or room for a fourth residential site (US$550,000)
- Which sources of capital to name in the pitch
- Save the final pitch revision (v0.1 is in Aaron's ChatGPT session) here or in Nextcloud, then update the web page
Source: Aaron's ChatGPT working session "Commercial RPM Modeling", 21 Oct 2026.