MINFin is a fundamental building block for bridging technical energy planning and financial strategy. Developed with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, it is already shaping how governments, development partners, and analysts think about the affordability and financial viability of energy transitions. MINFin is designed to be flexible, transparent, and adaptable to a range of policy, institutional, and financing contexts. Its applications span government-led policy processes and methodological research in academic institutions. Several examples include:
MINFin is being used by Zambia’s Ministry of Energy, with support from CCG researchers, to assess the financial feasibility of its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). By integrating outputs from OSeMOSYS with financing assumptions, MINFin helps determine whether planned investments are fiscally sustainable and how external finance and tariff policies can support implementation. The model also informs Zambia’s engagement with development finance institutions.
Researchers and students at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London are applying MINFin as part of academic coursework and research projects to study fiscal risk, financing gaps, and debt sustainability in energy systems. It is being integrated into master’s-level curricula and used in supervised dissertation projects on sustainable finance and energy policy.
Beyond national planning contexts, MINFin is increasingly being used in high-level international climate finance dialogues to illustrate the financial viability of energy transitions and support equitable resource allocation frameworks. These specialist applications reflect the model’s adaptability and policy relevance at the global scale:
In this CCG COP29 Policy Brief, MINFin is applied to Kenya and Ghana to estimate the financing required to achieve Net Zero transitions in their power sectors. The analysis compares Business-as-Usual (BAU) and Net Zero (NZ) scenarios to quantify the additional investment burden, assess feasible financing modalities (grants, loans, blended finance, carbon credits, and debt relief), and demonstrate the role of concessional capital. The findings inform negotiations under the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), advocating for allocation principles that reflect real country-level needs and financing constraints.
Link: Currently missing from the new CCG website
This brief illustrates how MINFin can support the next phase of UNFCCC negotiations by helping countries quantify their actual climate finance needs. It proposes a transparent framework for disaggregating the global climate finance goal into credible, country-specific estimates. The model enables countries to assess what share of the global goal they might require, based on factors like carbon intensity, access to concessional finance, and the investment gap between BAU and Net Zero. The approach supports a more structured and evidence-based allocation of international public climate finance.
This T20 South Africa policy commentary highlights the importance of shifting from a focus on access to affordability in LMIC climate finance strategies. Using insights from MINFin, the authors argue that affordability, not just capital availability, must be central to G20 deliberations. The piece emphasizes the need for concessional finance, tailored instruments, and tools like MINFin that align climate ambition with fiscal reality. It recommends broader G20 support for open modelling platforms that help LMICs articulate and justify their financing needs.
