The
International Network
for Sustainable Energy
July 2006
The
Energy Facility is a funding mechanism that is part of
EuroAid.
The Energy Facility for African, Pacific and Caribbean countries will
catalyst promoting initiatives and projects in the area of energy,
acting
as a clearing house and building research and management capacity
in ACP countries. It's based on the idea that access to modern energy
services
is a prerequisite for social and economic development.
It will combine development aid and other financial sources, especially
private investments.
This is also a significant contribution to the EU Energy Initiative
that was launched at the World Summit for Social Development in Johannesburg
in 2002.
It was proposed by the EU commission (Communication of 26 October 2004
on the future development of the EU Energy Initiative and the modalities
for the establishment of an Energy Facility for ACP countries (COM(2004)711final),
and was adopted by the EU development ministers together with representatives
of ACP countries June 25, 2005.
The call was opened in June 2006 and the deadline is October 6, 2006.
This Funding is divided as follow:
_ A 5 M Euro EUEI Partnership and Dialogue Facility (PDF), supporting
EUEI upstream dialogue’ (e.g. policy, capacity building and partnership
development) with Developing Countries.
The PDF is funded by 6 EU Member States (Austria, France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Sweden, UK) and managed by GTZ in Germany.
_ A 220 M Euro ACP-EU Energy Facility, with a main focus on co-financing of delivery of modern energy services to rural areas in Sub-Sahara Africa, and of energy efficiency/renewable energy in Caribbean and Pacific Island States.
This part is now available
in 2006-2007 with a call for proposals with deadline October 6, 2006.
It will be managed by
the European
Commission (EuroAid).
Read more http://ec.europa.eu/environment/funding/pdf/energy_guide.pdf and
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/europeaid/cgi/frame12.pl
Four principles:
* Governance: The Facility will help countries to establish their institutional
and regulatory framework and to attract additional financial resources
for public-private partnerships.
* Ownership: The Energy Facility will be an instrument to support and deepen
the involvement of actors in ACP countries in the building and implementation
of energy policies.
* Flexibility: The Facility will be open to joint financing with Member States,
other international financing institutions such as the European Investment
Bank and private sector investments
* Innovation: The Facility is intended to offer innovative responses to the
challenge of providing sustainable energy services to the poorest areas. Projects
could include electrifying rural areas, improving the efficiency of households'
cooking and promoting sustainable energy generation through biomass, small
hydroelectric plants and wind turbines.
Three Priority Activity Areas:
* Delivery of energy services: The largest financial contribution from
the Facility will be designed to improve rural people's access to modern
energy services. Priority will be given to people in unserved areas.
* Creating an enabling environment: The Facility will facilitate the implementation
of sound national energy policies and strategies, improve the institutional,
legal and regulatory framework, strengthen the capacity of key stakeholders,
and improve monitoring and evaluation capacity.
* Supporting future large-scale investment programs: Up to 20% of the Facility
resources will be devoted to preparatory activities required to facilitate
future large-scale investment plans for cross-border interconnections, grid
extensions and rural distribution, preparing them for financing by international
finance institutions.
Member States will be involved in the development and overall guidance of the Facility and will be able to ensure the necessary coordination of their own bilateral activities with those of the Facility.
Download the document "Europe’s chance to
help light up Africa: energising poverty reduction Practical Action 2005" (pdf
329 kB) here
(A specific chapter is devoted to the ACP-EU Energy Facility)