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VIENNA, Austria, April 5, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
Thirty-two new renewable energy projects will
receive Euro 2.2 million in funding from the Renewable Energy &
Energy Efficiency Partnership.
The funding is the fourth round from REEEP and the largest value
of funds in the organization’s three-year history. Ten of the 32
projects are sited in Africa and the majority focus on identifying
business models for solar water heating, small hydro, biofuels and
other technologies.
“More projects have been funded in the areas of financing models and
energy efficiency, than in previous rounds,” says Morgan Bazilian of
REEEP. It has expanded its priority countries from six to 20
countries and is engaging some countries for the first time,
including Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Liberia and Tunisia.
The increased funding was prompted by support from the G8 leaders
last November, when the UK government promised that an additional
£2.5 million would be provided in the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years. In
addition, the British foreign ministry announced the provision of £1
million.
Funding has been leveraged by a factor of six as REEEP attracts
co-financing from other agencies such as USAID, Cordaid Netherlands,
local municipalities in South Africa and from donors such as the
government of Ireland.
“Financial barriers to renewable energy and energy efficiency in
Africa are significant,” adds Glynn Morris of REEEP. “By working
with financial institutions, the carbon market and local government,
we're hoping to build the business case from the bottom-up.”
The built environment is an area of focus for this year's funding,
and a number of energy efficiency projects target China, Russia, the
Commonwealth of Independent States and other countries in the APEC
region.
“About one-third of energy consumption worldwide is in buildings,”
explains the groups international director Marianne Osterkorn. “If
one assumes that worldwide, there is a technical saving potential in
energy consumption in buildings in the range of 50% of energy used
in buildings, then today almost 17% of total global final energy
consumption can be avoided due to energy savings measures in
buildings.”
REEEP will continue to support innovative finance, and this round
will fund a Tradable Renewable Electricity Certificates project in
Tunisia with support from Italy. Funds will continue to support the
Chinese government for implementation of its Renewable Energy Law,
and to a pan-Latin American project to assess the required policy
instruments to accelerate the markets for wind, solar and biomass.
“The projects we're backing promise to deliver replicable models for
renewable and energy efficient development,” says Osterkorn. “Our
partnership of governments, NGOs and businesses is helping to
establish a stable global marketplace for clean energy.”
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