This report provided an assessment of how projects on access to energy services can be scaled up, replicated and mainstreamed to help meet the MDGs. It starts from the basic premise that the need to scale up arises from the limited impact and sustainability inherent in small-scale or, 'one-off', energy projects. It is acknowledged that there are several community-level energy initiatives in many countries that are successfully contributing to provide energy services at local levels. If these projects are replicated, mainstreamed and scaled up at the national level,the impacts could have a far reaching positive contribution towards achieving the MDGs. The report featured three case studies of SGP projects in Nepal, Dominican Republic and Kenya.

The publication is a product of a joint UNDP and Columbia University assessment workshop which drew upon UNDP initiatives and experiences to help identify specific institutional factors required for scaling up, and to highlight challenges to maximising micro-energy initiatives' potential for making large-scale impact.

The report was published in May 2006 by the UNDP Energy team and the SGP to coincide with the 14th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).