EREF 2: Results announced!

 

Building on the hugely successful first call of the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF I), ECREEE, with the support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BLMFUW), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID) and Austrian Development Agency (ADA), announced the second call for clean energy projects on 30th May 2014.

EREF II was officially launched during the clean energy mini-grids High Impact Opportunity (HIO) partnership meeting held as a side-event at the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Forum, in New York, 2 - 4 June 2014. The facility aims to support regional project promoters (through a combination of mentorship and financial support) in installing renewable energy powered mini-grids (including hybrids) in rural and peri-urban areas in the ECOWAS Member States.

Applications closed on 10 August 2014, with a total of 51 project promoters submitting proposals in response to the call. Each of these proposals were evaluated through a 2-stage process involving:

·         Eligibility test where proposals were assessed based on their compliance with fundamental eligibility criteria such as country/region of project implementation, type of applicant and technology, grant size requested for, capacity of applicant, and alignment with local policies.

Following this process, 20 proposals were shortlisted for further evaluation.

·         The second stage focused on the Technical evaluation of the project proposals, where the proposals were reviewed by an expert team comprised of ECREEE project officers and an independent evaluator. Moreover, working with the National Focal Institutions (NFIs) in the Member States, the proposals were assessed for due diligence. The NFIs, which are the Ministries of Energy, signed off a number of projects for implementation in their respective countries.

 

The following are the five projects selected for immediate funding support:

 

Project Title

Applicant name

Country of implementation

Number of connections

Renewable energy capacity [kW]

Projet de Promotion des Energies Renouvelables au Niger (PPER NIGER) - Improving the life quality of one rural poor community in Sahel region through the promotion of their access to modern, affordable and sustainable sources of energy

Fondacion Plan Internacional España

Niger

105

27.5

Petite Hydraulique en Guinée-PEHGUIGestion d’un mini-réseau alimenté par une centrale hybridehydraulique et solaire photovoltaïque

Fondation Energies pour le Monde

Guinea

200

50

Construction d’un système décentralisé hybride PV/PTFM fiable et mise en
place d’un système pérenne de gestion, d’exploitation et d’entretien durable au profit de la population rurale de Gori.

Association Tin Tua

Burkina Faso

88

38

FORGES “Fortalecimento de modelos de gestão  e  venda de energia em micro-redes existentes en países lusófonos membros da CEDEAO (Cabo Verde e Guinea-Bissau)”

Instituto Tecnologico de Canarias

Regional

(Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau)

748

n.a.

Extension of Hybrid Renewable Energy Mini-Grid Systems in the Western Area Peninsula in Sierra Leone

Welthungerhilfe

Sierra Leone

200

26

TOTAL

 

 

1,342.00

173.10

 

 

The grant-awarded projects are currently being implemented. These projects will be implemented over a period of two years (2015-2016).

It is expected that new projects will be selected and supported from the pool of eligible projects as additional funding becomes available. 

The EREF2 booklet is also available on PDF as as attachment.