Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Renewable Energy and Climate Change Expert meeting for Central Africa

31 May – 1 June 2016. Libreville, Gabon. IRENA is collaborating with the Economic Commission for Central African States (ECCAS), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners to hold a regional expert meeting on renewable energy and climate change in Central Africa.

The meeting, organised with the support from the Swedish government, forms part of a series of strategic dialogues in Sub-Saharan Africa. The series brings together energy and climate change policy-makers and planners to discuss a coherent and coordinated approach to implementing the renewable energy aspects of the region’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), the emissions reductions linked to the Paris Agreement.

Related:
Presentation of the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report 
by Christine Lins
1-2 June 2016. San Francisco, US. Energy ministers from 23 countries and the European
Commission, representing 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 90 percent of worldwide renewable power investments, convened to encourage a new drive toward clean energy deployment, and further hasten the growing movement away from coal to the increasing use of green power.

Extract of the programme:

What is the CEM?
Begun in 2010, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meets annually, bringing global energy ministers together to collaborate on policies and programs promoting the transition to an international clean energy economy. The CEM grew out of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in July 2009, which agreed to launch a global partnership to drive transformational low-carbon and climate-friendly technologies.

About the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is mandated as the global hub for renewable energy cooperation and information exchange by 143 Members (142 States and the European Union). Roughly 30 additional countries are in the accession process and actively engaged. IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity. 



Related:
The Renewables 2016 Global Status Report is now available for download. Read the most comprehensive annual overview of the state of renewable energy and find out why renewables are now firmly established as competitive, mainstream sources of energy in many countries around the world.

This year’s edition has detailed data and information on distributed renewables, pivotal for energy access in Africa. The energy efficiency section is also larger than ever. The role of cities, communities and companies in the expanding “100% renewable” movement is documented. This year’s feature looks at renewables in community power.

Use the infographics to spread the word. Check out REN21’s Renewables Interactive Map for country specific data underlying the various trends highlighted in the GSR. There is also a new map dedicated to distributed renewables

GSR Full Report Download (PDF – 25 MB)
Key Findings Download (PDF – 5 MB)
Many countries throughout Africa increased their policy commitments in the power sector during 2015. All renewable power generating technologies except ocean energy are being deployed across the continent, with significant markets on-grid as well as off-grid (for solar PV in particular). In 2015, several countries (including Ethiopia, Guinea and Zambia) brought new hydropower facilities online.106 Morocco was the world’s largest CSP market, South Africa was the first country on the continent to achieve 1 GW of solar PV and helped push the continent’s wind power capacity above the 3 GW mark, and Kenya ranked fourth globally for new geothermal power capacity.107 Across Africa, renewable power projects and technology manufacturing facilities were being planned or were under construction. (page 34)
"In the village of Bancoumanan (Mali), international partners and the local community have collaborated on the installation of a hybrid mini-grid that provides energy for the local population (190 end-users). Local technicians were trained for operation and maintenance tasks, and the system is managed by a local company. Combining solar energy and diesel, the village of Bancoumanan illustrates the flexibility of community-based renewable energy projects".  
"Africa presents specific data challenges, but it is clear that a number of solar PV, wind and geothermal power projects in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa created new jobs. IRENA estimates that the continent had more than 60,000 renewable energy jobs (not including large-scale hydropower) in 2015. Close to one-half of these jobs are in South Africa and about one-fourth are in northern Africa". (page 40)
The African Development Bank launched its “New Deal for Energy in Africa”, targeting 75 million off-grid connections by 2025.47 In addition, the Millennium Challenge Corporation agreed to provide a USD 46 million grant for off-grid electrification in Benin.  (...) As part of the Power Africa initiative, the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) also agreed to provide Kenya and Nigeria with more than USD 20 
million in loans to promote solar energy in 90,000 households. (...) In December 2015, an array of new financing and investment initiatives was launched at the COP21 in Paris. For example, the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which aims to
achieve universal energy access on the continent, plans to install 10 GW of additional renewable energy capacity by 2020, and 300 GW by 2030. France will double investments across Africa in renewable energy projects – ranging from wind farms to
solar power and hydroelectric projects – to USD 2.2 billion between 2016 and 2020.(page 93)
The year 2015 also saw the launch in East Africa of the Powerhive” business model, which combines solar PV arrays, battery storage and smart metering systems with mobile telecommunications and payment applications. M-KOPA uses charging outlets for mobile phones as a key part of its business model in Africa. More than 280,000 homes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda used M-KOPA’s solar systems with mobile payment and charging configurations during the year. (page 94)
Rwanda approved its new energy policy, which included a target of reaching 22% of its population with Distributed renewable energy (DRE) systems by 2017/2018, thereby increasing its off-grid power generation to 22 MW. Even before this policy was approved, Rwanda had partnered with Mobisol and the EU to provide solar PV systems to 49,000 households and 1,000 schools by 2019, representing a total installed capacity of 7.9 MW. Tanzania announced a target of 1 million solar installations by the end of 2017, which is expected to supply solar electricity to 10% of the nation’s population and to create over 15,000 solar jobs. Ghana launched a PAYG home solar programme in collaboration with Azuri Technology to provide electricity to 100,000 households. Mali is  promoting the sale of 1,500 solar kits with the with the support of local banks, which will offer special loans to users. (page 94)

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