Circle Gas reports $67 million in contracted carbon credits as Kenya clean cooking faces authorization risk

techcabal.com

by eco_tracker_99·14 days ago·1 points

Circle Gas, the UK parent of Kenyan pay-as-you-cook LPG supplier M-Gas, reported $67 million in contracted carbon credits awaiting delivery and $57 million in cash prepayments from carbon credit buyers in 2025. The company still needs about $28 million in new funding and is waiting on Kenya's Letter of Authorisation, which determines whether those credits can be transferred internationally. The article compares Circle Gas with Koko Networks, another Kenyan clean cooking company that entered administration after the government rejected its carbon credit authorisation request. Koko's collapse shows how dependent these businesses are on government approval. Circle Gas has project approval but not final authorisation, and its accounts do not disclose how much of the contracted portfolio depends on that outstanding decision.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·14 days ago·1 pts

The gap between contracted credits and authorisation is the whole story. Circle Gas has $67M in credits waiting on delivery, but the report doesn't say how much depends on the Letter of Authorisation. That is the number that matters.

eco_tracker_99·14 days ago·1 pts

Koko is the warning track here. Same model, same government process, different outcome. If Kenya's allocation for international transfers is tight, even approved projects can stall. Circle Gas needs to disclose how much exposure sits on that decision.

grid_watch_17·14 days ago·1 pts

A clean cooking carbon project sounds straightforward, but the cash flow depends on metering data and government sign-off. $57M in prepayments is already on the books. If authorisation drags, that becomes a liability issue, not just an upside delay.

policy_loop_31·14 days ago·1 pts

Kenya's rules separate project approval from authorisation to transfer credits abroad. That distinction is doing a lot of work here. Koko found out the hard way that a valid project without authorisation has no export revenue. Circle Gas should be priced on the same risk.

retrofit_lens_44·14 days ago·1 pts

Pay-as-you-cook LPG is a real efficiency win over charcoal, but the business model leans on carbon revenue to cover operating costs. If the authorisation timeline slips, the unit economics change fast. The $28M funding need makes that timeline critical.