Steam billows from an energy plant in a stretch of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, about 180km north of the capital, Nairobi. But the white clouds rising from the tidy grid of pipes aren’t a sign of polluting greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. They are a signal that the country of more than 44 million, where some 65% of the population does not have access to electricity, is one giant step closer to delivering clean, reliable, renewable power to its people.

The first phase of the $746m Menengai geothermal development project is well under way, with already proven steam resources capable of generating 130 megawatts of electricity and working toward commissioning the first power plants in 2016.

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At its full 400MW potential, the project aims to provide stable, low-cost power to about 500,000 households and 300,000 businesses, and avoid nearly 2m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The expansion of Menengai is just one of many projects the government is pursuing as part of its plan to generate 5,500MW of geothermal power by 2031. Kenya’s current geothermal capacity is 595MW, but the ministry of energy estimates the country has the potential to produce about 10,000MW.

Across Africa and around the world, low-carbon renewable energy is emerging as the go-to green growth and poverty reduction strategy. Kenya’s neighbours Ethiopia and Tanzania are also pursuing geothermal power, while countries in the Middle East and north Africa are focusing their efforts on expanding solar power. Still others are exploring mini-grid and off-grid solutions in wind and solar to supply the poorest and hardest-to-reach rural communities.

More than 1 billion people worldwide still lack access to electricity that could enable them to light their homes, cook or pump clean water.

During my 15 years working in development in Africa and Asia, and now at the helm of Climate Investment Funds, I have seen how a lack of electricity handcuffs poor families to poverty – especially women and girls, who have to gather fuel and carry out the household chores. The success of every one of the 17 sustainable development goals, formally adopted at the UN in September, depends on a swell of renewable, sustainable and affordable energy.

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The greatest barrier facing Kenya and other developing countries is a lack of funding to develop their renewable energy potential. Renewable energy plants are expensive to build. But once they are up and running, they can deliver cheap flows of energy. Reaching that point, however, takes millions of dollars in investment that most poor countries cannot easily access.

One way to surmount this barrier is to provide countries with the starter funds they need to get their renewable energy operations off the ground, supported by policies that inspire confidence and growth. Once countries have made progress, they can more easily convince new investors to chip in, especially from the private sector.

Climate Investment Funds has provided $25m in concessional financing for Menengai in Kenya to help cover exploratory drilling – a critical but risky stage of development and a cost that most private investors are unwilling to bear. In fact, the company has earmarked $810m to advance geothermal power projects in 15 countries. This could potentially yield 3.5GW of new geothermal capacity, more than a quarter of current global installed capacity of almost 13 GW. Prospects are promising, and more than $10bn is expected from other financiers.

This is a start, but so much more must be done to make geothermal and other renewable energy markets viable in developing countries. The risks are high, but so are the rewards if forward-thinking countries like Kenya and early investors, like Climate Investment Funds, are willing to lay the groundwork. Meeting the ambitious targets set in the SDGs, and fulfilling the commitments each country makes in a hoped-for global agreement after UN climate talks this winter, means developing countries have to advance along a low-carbon pathway. For the good of our planet and our people, we must invest in this progress.