Objectives

Overall Objectives of ECREEE

ECREEE aspires to contribute to the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of West Africa by improving access to modern, reliable and affordable energy services, energy security and reduction of negative environmental externalities of the energy system (e.g. GHG emissions, local pollution). The activities of ECREEE contribute to:

  • the achievement of the targets of the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy (EREP) and the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy (EEEP).
  • the objectives of the UN Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL). The initiative aims to achieve three interlinked targets by 2030: universal access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services; doubling the improvement in energy efficiency; doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
  • the WAPP Master Plan Scenario which aims at doubling the regional electric generation capacity by 2025 (additional 10.000 MW) primarily through large hydro and gas. 
  • the ECOWAS White Paper on energy access estimates that at least 20% of new investments in rural electrification should be generated from locally available renewable resources.

Specific Objectives

ECREEE aims to create favourable framework conditions, and an enabling environment for renewable energy and energy efficiency markets by supporting activities directed at mitigating  existing barriers within the technological, financial, economic, business, legal, policy, institutional, knowledge and capacity-building framework. The indicators to measure the progress in the areas of capacity and policy development, knowledge management, as well as investment and business promotion are available in the ECREEE Business Plan.

Scope of Intervention

The Centre has identified the followinig geographic scope of intervention. ECREEE:

  • supports and executes RE&EE activities and projects which cover one or more ECOWAS countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, La Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
  • focuses primarily on activities and projects with regional impact or national projects which demonstrate high potential for scaling-up or regional replication.
  • works in urban as well as peri-urban and rural areas. Due to the high relevance of decentralized RE&EE technologies and services for rural areas, the Centre will run a special rural energy program.

The Centre promotes the following energy technologies and solutions:

  • All appropriate renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and solutions, including also semi renewable energy-based hybrid systems and mini-grids.
  • Small scale hydro power projects usually with a maximum capacity of 30 MW.
  • Sustainable Biofuel projects.
  • Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cooking projects are eligible due to their high relevance for low-income population groups.