Last week REEEP launched a new site http://toolkits.reeep.org where several interesting toolkits for renewable energey and energy efficiency will be available soon.
The training package focuses mainly on the policies and regulation relating to the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of electricity and the opportunities and barriers in developing renewable energy and energy efficiency in these sectors.Looking forward to see more toolkits there soon …As always, feedback is very welcome.
It’s that time of year again when REEEP tells the world that it’s seeking project ideas for funding. The partnership’s target is primarily the Southern Hemisphere or what some refer to as the “developing world” or “economies in transition”. Anybody with a project idea regarding renewable energy or energy efficiency can apply for funding.
The key: the project must be focused on changing policies, regulations or legislation in favour of sustainable energy and energy conservation. The last funding round provided grants to the government of Mexico for the establishment of ‘net metering’ laws and the government of Uganda for the development of policies that support solar water heaters. A REEEP-funded project in Kazakhstan resulted in the country’s Parliament passing new legislation to support the wind industry.
But it’s not only policy work that gets funded. Attracting finance to new markets is also a key goal of the partnership. So, projects that deal with ‘risk mitigation’ , ‘guarantee structures” or other financial mechanisms are also being funded. One ongoing project is a microfinance initiative for solar laterns in the Solomon Islands.
Grants are capped at 100,000 Euros, so up to 43 project proposals will become the lucky recipients in early 2009.
To learn more about the Call for Proposals look for the 7th REEEP Programme Call on REEEP’s website.
A lot has changed since November 2006. That’s when REEEP helped finance a wind farm developed by South African wind developer, Genesis Eco-Energy (Pty) Ltd., through the sale of carbon credits to the UK government. The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) purchased the credits generated by the Jeffreys Bay 10MW wind farm to offset their 2004 air travel emissions. Two years later the projects are 12 to 30 times bigger and now you have the French and Spanish governments providing assistance for African wind projects.
On October 8th/9th, 2008 the 3rd General Assembly of the European Technology Platform SmartGrids “The SmartGrids Revolution - make it happen” are taking place in Brussels.
As I am presenting reegle there and the REEEP International Director (Dr. Marianne Moscoso-Osterkorn) is part of the Smart Grids Advisory Committee I am able to give you a short summary of the first day:
Mr. Pier Nabuurs (Chairman of the ETP Smartgrids and CEO KEMA) opened the conference and asked all attendees for participation in the Smartgrids Development. He stated that “we are talking about the Smart Grids revolution today - and you make it happen”.
After this opening speech the Vice President of the EU Parliament (Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras) gave a first enthusiastic presentation and ensured that the Commission is sharing his enthusiasm for this important collaboration and that the EU is a convinced supporter of the Smart Grid development. Furthermore he pointed out that it is of high importance that industry as well as consumers are involved in this process and that there is a need to educate and inform consumers about the upcoming challenges. “The only way yo modify human behaviors to let them know how much [energy] they use […]. This is about trusting and empowering consumers.”He also reminded the participants that “[they] should not only set targets but deliver concrete solutions to the customers”
The next session started with a presentation of Raffaele Liberali (Director at the Directorate-General for Research, European Commission). He stated thatwe are just “switching from debate to action” and that the main challenge will be to “integrate and distribute energy fro,m renewable sources” and therefore a “cooperation between technology platforms is crucial”.
Finally the Strategic Deployment Document for Europe`s Electricity Networks of the Future has been introduced and participants have been asked to comment on it. The development of this document is extremely important as “the EU 20-20-20 target is absolutely depended on the (Smart) Grid.”In the afternoon some workshops will take place and I will inform you about other interesting outcomes …
Earlier this week, the annual general meeting of REEEP’s seven regional secretariats took place in Vienna. The network met to discuss the global activities of the partnership as part of the 2009 planning process
