Newsletter for Members and Supporters of the Alliance for Rural Electrification
CONTENT
- New members
- ARE Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2010
- Interview with our Policy Officer
- Follow the Alliance for Rural Electrifcation on Facebook and Twitter!
NEWS FROM THE RURAL ELECTRIFICATION WORLD
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY EVENTS: Incoming appointments
EDITORIAL
For most of us the last year was turbulent and difficult. The renewable energy sector has undoubtedly felt the strain of the global economic crisis. The recent developments in Germany highlight that our sector remains very dependent on political decisions. This will probably not change fundamentally in the future. Energy has always been a sector that is highly regulated, with much being dependent on political decisions. That is the reason why our companies are well advised to organise themselves collectively and to make their voice heard in the political arena. Our messages are relevant for everybody. Everybody is a stakeholder in the field of energy, be they a consumer or somebody without access to electricity.
Politics is not an academic exercise but follows clearly articulated interests. Unfortunately, rural populations without access to electricity are rarely well organised and their interests are hardly represented. As a consequence, in most developing countries the stabilisation of the grid in the capital and urban growth centres enjoys priority. We all know that, if the pace of rural electrification does not accelerate, electrification rates in many Sub-Saharan countries will fall and the number of people without electricity will remain at current levels in the foreseeable future. This is unacceptable. Rural electrification must outpace population growth. It is not sufficient to establish Rural Electrification Agencies and set strategies for the long term. Agencies and strategies must be endowed with sufficient financial resources and must use their means efficiently. Against this background ARE has a key role to play. Our recommendations for sustainable and effective policies, technical solutions and financing schemes can make a difference!
Ernesto Macias
ARE President
Guido Glania
ARE Secretary General
News from the Alliance
New members in the Alliance for Rural Electrification:
The Alliance is proud to present eight new members:
BAE Batterien GmbH. BAE is a medium-sized company with a long tradition of manufacturing lead-acid batteries. They are DIN-certificated by the German Institute for Standardization. During the last years BAE has strongly developed its market position as a supplier for the renewable energy sector. Therefore, they are strongly interested in taking part of an organisation which promote off grid and hybrid systems throughout the world. By joining ARE, they also want to actively work on the promotion of technical standards and recommendations. Finally, they are directly interested in getting updated market and procurement information.
Eauxwell Nigeria Limited. Created in 1987 with the aim of providing expertise in the areas of water and waste engineering, the company is integrating more and more renewable energies for the provision of potable water but also for rural electrification. They have grown both nationally and internationally and “Eauxwell” has become a trusted brand in the Nigeria's water industry. By joining ARE, they expect to learn from the expertise and experience of others, to increase networking with players in the rural electrification industry, to gain better understanding of financing schemes available, to identify possible market areas and investment opportunities and to improve “Eauxwell” brand name internationally.
Hoppecke Batterien. Hoppecke is specialized in the development of new technologies and services for energy storage systems. Their extensive range of products (batteries and cells) is complemented by state-of-the-art charging technologies and monitoring units to form the whole systems. The increasing exploitation of regenerative sources of energy adds a whole new dimension to the deployment of rechargeable forms of energy storage. By joining ARE, Hoppecke wants to contribute to the only organisation working on the long term development of the off-grid renewable energy markets worldwide and to have access to the most updated news regarding this market.
« Institut National de l’Energie Solaire (INES) » (French solar Institute). INES was created in 2006 to promote and develop the use of solar energy in France. They are Located at “Bourget du lac”, close to “Chambéry”, a privileged location for researchers as it gathers many industrial and research actors. Friends and partners of ARE for the past years they have decided to join us to gain closer contact with the European industry, to increase their knowledge about the needs met in rural electrification and about the current evolution taking place in this sector and to see how they can contribute to the work of the Alliance on the research field.
Phocos. Phocos is one of the largest suppliers of off-grid power supply systems components in the world. Headquarted in Ulm, Germany, Phocos develops designs and manufactures products to suit the needs of all stake-holders in the global solar power market. They contribute to the development of stand-alone PV systems throughout the world by providing high quality, reliable and low costs energy storage technology and components. By joining and supporting ARE, Phocos wants to change people’s mind on the advantages of off-grid energy systems for rural areas. They also expect to expand their networks and activities, to find new business and opportunities for their products.
Powertech Labs. Powertech is BC Hydro’s subsidiary specialized in clean energy consulting, testing of power solutions. Their areas of focus are: Asset management, clean transportation, distributed clean power, including for remote and urban communities, and smart utilities. Powertech provides distributed clean / hybrid power solutions that incorporate existing power generation (typically diesel) with clean sustainable technologies (e.g., wind, solar, hydro) to meet community’s needs and load profile. In this perspective they want to contribute and benefit from the work of ARE.
Siemens AG. Siemens is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors. Siemens is also the world’s biggest provider of ecofriendly technologies with around €23 billion revenues generated by green products and solutions. By joining ARE, Siemens AG is positioning itself to launch new activities in the energy sector of developing countries. They want to participate in and contribute to the future of the rural electrification sector and of the Alliance.
Trojan batteries. With over 80 years of experience, Trojan Battery Company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of deep cycle battery. Their long-lasting, reliable and clean products contribute to deliver power to applications all over the world. By joining ARE Trojan Batteries expects to keep growing on the rural electrification market. Beside their participation in ARE and in numerous projects worldwide, they also intent to be active in NGOs with a global reach regarding cooperative rural electrification projects.
8 new members in two month including a global company, an important research institute, our second African member and big players in the battery sector. They represent these month’s added strengths to the Alliance for Rural Electrification. They characterize different aspects, inputs and ideas; yet they are united in their ambition to foster sustainable and profitable rural electrification, to increase access to energy and to open new markets for renewables worldwide. By gathering these actors and the many pieces involved in the rural electrification process, ARE will keep pushing forward to meet its ambitious objectives.
If you also would like to join our network please contact us.
ARE Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2010
On the 9 of March 2010, the Alliance held its Annual General Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in which its members discussed and decided about ARE’s priorities and strategy for 2010. The meeting enjoyed the participation of more than 40 attendees.
ARE members decided on the following four strategic priorities for 2010:
- More detailed and powerful messages. ARE is finalizing a study about lessons learned from mini-grid projects around the world and works on a new publication on quality standards and recommendations.
- Broader geographic and sector representation. ARE will step up its efforts to reach out to the small wind and hydro sector as well as to non-European companies.
- More effective communication strategy. ARE will work on a comprehensive communication strategy which takes into account the new technological possibilities and requirements of an ever larger membership base.
- Reinforced and targeted advocacy. ARE will concentrate its lobbying on players with significant international leverage.
Due to ending terms of various board members, board elections took place for the term 2010-2014. The following individuals have been elected:
- Angelika Pullen, Communications Director, GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council, International
- Anjali Shanker, Deputy Managing Director, IED, France
- Ernesto Macias, Managing Director, CEDES, Spain
- Gema San Bruno, Secretary General, ESHA, EU
- Michel Mansard, Export Director, BP Solar, France
- Tobias Zwirner, Managing Director, Phaesun, Germany
The following board members have been elected in 2008 and accordingly their term runs until 2012:
- Balthasar Klimbie, Sales Director, Fortis Wind Energy, The Netherlands
- Bernard McNelis, Managing Director, IT Power, UK
- Michael Wollny, Director Sales Off-Grid Solutions, SMA, Germany
- The Alliance AGM
- David Taverner, Senior Programme Manager, GSMA
The last session of the AGM was dedicated to two presentations especially relevant to the rural electrification community.
First of all, David Taverner representing the international association of mobile phone operators (GSMA) introduced the new concept on “Community Power, using mobile to extend the grid”. The Green Power for Mobile initiative expects to bring added energy services in developing countries by increasing the synergies between powered telecommunication towers infrastructure and access to energy. They have even issued a white paper (Please see this report here) developing their ideas and presenting different concepts. In the future, ARE excepts to enter in close cooperation with GSMA to further work on their ideas and to bring the off-grid community together with mobile phone operators and infrastructure providers. If this collaboration is fruitful, the GSM expansion worldwide could be a serious support to the rural electrification markets.
The second presentation by Severina Markova from the European Commission (EuropeAid) highlighted the new Pooling Mechanism of the Second Energy Facility. This mechanism will allocate Mio 40€ to European developments banks with a view to refinance renewable energy projects in developing countries. These grants can be used by the development banks to subsidize private sector investments which otherwise would not be bankable. ARE is working closely together with the European Commission and European Development Banks to make sure that the full potential of this pooling mechanism is reached.
Interview with our Policy Officer
The CDE (Center for Development of Enterprise) interviewed the Policy and Development Officer of the Alliance, Simon Rolland, on renewable energies and their potential as a solution to the energy problems, including for the African private sector, and to fight poverty on the continent.
The full interview can be read on the CDE Website here.
Follow the Alliance for Rural Electrifcation on Facebook and Twitter!
The Alliance for Rural Electrification has created its own Facebook page to complement our corporate website. You will be able to easily follow up the latest activities and news from us and from the Rural Electrification World, and more important, make your contribution by posting your comments, suggestions and questions. It is easy, just click here and let’s interact!
If you are interested in micro-blogging you can follow ARE Secretary General Guido Glania on Twitter. Search for https://twitter.com/guidoglania. Your retweets are highly welcome!
ARE ACTIVITIES
ARE networking Dinner and Workshop “What else will be the off-grid business in 2020?”
- Conversations among off-grid professionals
In conjunction with its General Assembly, the Alliance organized two events for its members and friends with a view to foster networking and knowledge sharing between off-grid professionals.
The networking dinner took place in an award winning business centre for social entrepreneurs, the HUB. It offered ample opportunities for sharing experiences and insights in a relaxed atmosphere.
- ARE Strategy workshop
On the following day, 10 of March, ARE organized a workshop on the strategic developments of the international off-grid markets. The lead question was “Where will the off-grid sector be in 2010?”.
Participants shared their views on the key parameters which mark the future of the off-grid markets, such as technological progress, oil prices and renewable energy policies. The event was highly interactive and was intended to mobilize the collective intelligence of the group. The workshop led to many ideas and scenarios on how the future of the off-grid sector may look like.
ARE will summarize the findings of this workshop and make the results available to the participants and ARE membership. This event was co-organized and hosted by the consulting company TetraLD (www.tetrald.com).
- Auditorium at the ARE Strategy Workshop
First World Summit for Small Scaled Wind (New Energy Husum)
Husum, 19 March 2010.
The first World Summit of Small Scale Wind brought together representatives from the US, Europe, Africa and Asia to talk about market opportunities, regulations and quality standards for small wind turbines.
ARE Secretary General, Guido Glania, highlighted market opportunities and challenges for small wind in off-grid areas in developing countries. More than 80 international experts and professionals participated. The small wind turbine exhibition (in the framework of New Energy) attracted a large number of international visitors as well.
For more details please click here.
Power and Electricity World Africa, Clean Technology Day
Johannesburg, 15 March 2010.
ARE Secretary General, Mr. Guido Glania, acted as chairperson on the opening event of the Clean Technology Day. This placed rural electrification high on the agenda for the following days to come. The conference was attended by executives of international renowned multinational players as well as local companies and offered many networking opportunities. The conference highlighted that the new Feed-in tariff regulations in South Africa (REFit) were a step into the right direction. However, participants criticised the lack of transparency as regards the allocation of the FiT projects and regretted the fact that the quantitative targets were not very ambitious.
All details on the conference here.
European Network of Energy Agencies
Madrid, 10 February 2010.
ARE President Ernesto Macias participated in the Regular and Full Meeting (M46) of the European Network of Energy Agencies. He gave a presentation about rural electrification with renewable energies and represented the industry in this top-level meeting, organized by the Spanish IDAE (member of the Alliance) and the Portuguese ADENE.
UNCTAD: Single-year expert meeting on green and renewable technologies as energy solutions for rural development
Geneva, 9 February 2010.
Developing countries are unlikely to meet the Millennium Development Goals without access to affordable and predictable modern energy services. While some progress has been registered a significant gap remains that renewable energy technologies (RETs) can help to fill in. The UNCTAD´s expert meeting gathered in Geneva, explored the ways to integrate the development and deployment of RETs into rural poverty reduction strategies, with a view to identifying the main social, technical, economic and cultural barriers, as well as the success factors and key policy tools.
The Alliance, also representing for the occasion our partners from REN21, was involved within the third informal session which discussed the potential financing options available at local, national and international levels to enable RET deployment. Simon Rolland, our Policy Officer, insisted on the fact that decentralized renewable energy systems are the most cost-effective ways of bringing modern energy services to rural areas in many developing countries as well as on the importance of levelling the playing field between conventional and renewable energy. He also proposed and discussed numerous financing options, various forms of government support and the way to remove financing, trade and political barriers to foster RETs development.
All details on the meeting, including presentations and the report, here
UNFCCC COP 15: ARE Side Event and Exhibition
- ARE stand at the world conference on climate change in Copenhagen
Copenhagen, 16 December 2009.
Once again the Alliance was present at the most important environmental event in the world, representing a sector which proposes sustainable and clean solutions for the 1,6 billion people deprived from access to electricity. It was an exciting, though disappointing, time for all those who believe in a clean and balanced environment and the Alliance was proud to be an active part of this event. In COP 15, ARE took part in the exhibition and organised a side event.
The side event called “Seizing solar power: Key to reducing CO2 emissions now” took place on Wednesday 16 December 2009, together with EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) and SEIA (U.S. Solar Energy Industry Association), from 16:30 to 18:00. In this important meeting, ARE, through its Policy Officer Simon Rolland, was the voice of this off-grid sector and of developing countries. If you could not be present, you can see the video in the official webcast of the event. Please click here.
The exhibition stand was set up for the whole second week of COP 15, from Saturday 12 until Friday 18 December. The Alliance had the opportunity to distribute its most well-known publications on Rural Electrification and push for the use of renewables to the different delegations which passed by the stand.
World Bank Energy Strategy Consultations
The World Bank is currently carrying out a public consultation for its Future Energy Strategy, which will have a big impact on the future of millions of people in the developing world. For this purpose the organisation has released a background paper in which it highlights the basic issues to be addressed by the new strategy. The paper points out that energy is critical to economic development and poverty alleviation. It stresses the need to act against global warming, and to diversify the energy portfolio of the countries.
For that reasons, the WB proposes two twin objectives, improving access and reliability of energy supply. In order to achieve these two objectives, the two strategic pillars proposed are:
- Improving the operational and financial performance of the energy sector.
- Strengthening governance to improve the contribution of energy to equitable economic development.
The Alliance for Rural Electrification is actively involved in the consultations. As the only industry and business association on rural electrification, with members representing most of the market worldwide, we primary argue that the World Bank does not prioritize the deployment of renewable energy nor decentralized solutions. For this reason we have submitted the following recommendations:
- Setting of quantitative targets on access to electricity. ARE urges to strive towards halving the percentage of people without access to electricity by 2025, which means an electrification rate 2.5% above population growth.
- Make renewable energy specifically a core pillar of its energy strategy, as it is the only solution for accelerated economic growth, higher electrification rates, and mitigation of climate change.
- Prioritize decentralized electricity generation on the basis of renewable energy, as grid extension and large infrastructure are not suitable for rural areas.
- Intensify the technical assistance on existing rural electrification agencies.
- Forgo any development project which could distort and crowd out private initiatives from private local energy service providers, and gradually phase out subsidies on traditional energy sources.
- According to the Paris declaration on efficient coordination with other development institutions, the World Bank should coordinate with the African EU Energy Partnership.
- Finally but not least important, strictly separation of both terms, “energy efficiency” and “renewable energy”, as the combination of such broad term as energy efficiency dilutes any meaningful message for renewable energies.
The observations and recommendation of the ARE on the World Bank Energy Strategy consultation can be downloaded here.
More information on the World Bank Energy Strategy consultation here.
News from ARE Members
The European Union awards one of ARE member for its tremendous work in Africa
This week the Dutch Rural Energy Foundation, member of the Alliance for Rural Electrification received the prestigious EU Sustainable Energy Award 2010 from EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.
The Foundation’s SolarNow program supports local entrepreneurs to start a business in solar energy household solutions. The Foundation supports 192 entrepreneurs in seven sub- Saharan African countries. The program organizes awareness campaigns to promote the use of solar energy. Finally, as many households do not have the cash available to meet the upfront investment, SolarNow facilitates end-user credit schemes.
We of course congratulate the REF for their great work and for this well deserved price. We also want to believe that this prize show the increased attention directed towards our sector. It encourages all of us to keep working for sustainable development throughout the world.
To see the full press release issued by the Rural Energy Foundation please click here.
To visit REF website please click here.
To visit the Sustainable Energy Awards website, please click here.
RENAC: trainings for rural electrification with renewables:
The Renewable Energy Academy (RENAC) in Berlin provides training and further education for engineers, investors, sales staff, lawyers, management, project developers and decision makers in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Its goal is to disseminate the excellent expertise available in Germany for the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology, domestically and internationally.
RENAC is a member of the Alliance and as such we are happy to promote their courses which are particularly relevant to our members and friends as well as to every person interested in rural electrification. This month we would like to underline the training:
Hybrid Wind/PV/Systems and Micro Grids Fundamentals
From the 22.04.-26.03.2010 or 31.05.-04.06.2010
The course teaches the fundamentals of hybrid renewable-energy systems. The emphasis lies on understanding the various technologies, estimating economic benefits, project planning and the interaction of system components such as small wind plants, PV modules and batteries. Practical exercises complement the theoretical material to ensure an optimal learning outcome.
Please click on the course titles for further information about the course.
To any of our members who like to attend our course RENAC will offer a special discount.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact:
Renewables Academy (RENAC) AG
Markus Maus
Director Sales
Tel: +49-30-526 895 8 - 84
E-mail: maus(at)renac.de
The Norwegian Prime Minister visits Scatec Solar’s rural electrification project in Rampura, India
The Norwegian Prime Minister Mr. Jens Stoltenberg made a visit to Rampura, the first village to get a Community Solar Power Plant by Scatec Solar, a project developer member of the Alliance. This visit comes as the company, together with Indian and Norwegian governments, has launched the scaling-up of the solar energy project for rural electrification in India. Indian and Norwegian governments in partnership with Scatec Solar will jointly finance the expansion from two to 32 villages, impacting approximately 1800 families.
Joining the Norwegian technology and the Indian sun, this project proves that private companies, government organisations and rural communities can work together to achieve sustainable development, says Prime Minister Stoltenberg.
In 2008 Scatec Solar took the initiative to develop a sustainable and scalable model for off-grid solar systems in rural areas. After a successful implementation of solar systems in two villages, Rampura and Gopalpura respectively, another 30 villages in India will now have Community Solar Power Plants installed. The project target is to install approximately 300 kWp of PV in 30 villages not currently connected to the electricity grid.
To read the full article please click here.
SolarWorld donates solar panels to pump water in Haiti following earthquakes
SolarWorld is donating solar modules to power 10 pump stations to provide clean water for up to 175,000 earthquake survivors in Haiti. The solar modules are being donated to the non-profit Water Missions International (WMI) for use in water-pumping stations in the Haitian capital, Port-Au-Prince. SolarWorld says it has also shipped solar modules at a discount price, to operate about 25 additional WMI water stations.
“Fuel shortages in Haiti are causing major roadblocks in providing sustainable aid,” says George C. Greene IV, WMI Vice President for International Programmes. “Through SolarWorld’s assistance, WMI continues to place solar-powered water systems in the neediest areas.”
SolarWorld is donating the 10 kW of solar equipment through its Solar2World programme, which provides equipment for off-grid rural solar projects in the developing world.
To read the full article please click here.
Phaesun builds solar systems in Africa
German Phaesun and Ikratos Africa, based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, are constructing 10 solar power plants in the Koudougou region, to be finished at the end of March 2010.
The solar modules will produce electricity for telecommunications plants for Telecel Faso, which has covered 75 % of the network with diesel-powered telecommunications plants so far.
Each of the 9.18 kW solar systems consists of 108 monocrystalline solar modules from ET Solar, batteries from Hoppecke and charge controllers, which were developed especially for telecommunication systems and are that suitable for warm regions.
To read the full article please click here.
News from the rural electrification world
Miscellaneous from the rural electrification world
Off-Grid Regulations in India
Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has recently launched the National Solar Mission to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenge. This mission intends to enable the solar technology penetration (SPV and Solar Thermal) both at centralized and de-centralized level. It is now public available the draft guidelines for the first phase (up to 2013) with focus on promoting off-grid systems (stand-alone and village hybrid mini-grid). It supposes to support viable business models sustained by the interest of the investor community in a demand driven scheme.
More details on the guidelines here.
Tunisia, most electrified country in Africa
Tunisia has become the most electrified country in Africa according to a recent report on "Powering Africa" published by African Business. Tunisia which is credited with an electrification rate of 99% comes ahead of Algeria, 98%, Egypt 98%, Libya 97%, Mauritius 94%, Morocco 85% and South Africa 70%. The report said Africa’s relatively slow development is mostly due to its severe lack of sufficient power: “The correlation power sufficiency and economic development is unmistakable.”
The report stresses that the driving force for electrification must come from within Africa itself to combat energy inequality and climate change - two problems confronting Africa at the moment. And that cross-border integration will also promote electrification.
To read the full article please click here.
IEA Comparative Study on Rural Electrification Policies in Emerging Economies - Keys to Successful Policies
What are the best approaches for providing access to electricity for more rural dwellers in emerging economies? Brazil, China, India and South Africa have each worked to improve access to electricity services. While many of the challenges faced by these countries are similar, the means of addressing them varied in their application and effectiveness. This report analyses the four country profiles, determining the pre-requisites to successful rural electrification policies.
To read the full article please click here.
Alternative, renewable energy policy being prepared in Pakistan
The new policy for alternative and renewable energy (ARE) will replace the existing short-term policy prepared in 2006. It will encompass all alternative and renewable energy sources, strengthen financial mechanisms and expand scope for rural energy services.
The off-grid alternative and renewable energy policy is aimed at providing electricity to villages, settlements and scattered households not connected to the power grid by employing renewable or hybrid technologies.
The qualifying target settlements are those not included in any national or regional grid expansion plan and are located beyond 20km of the existing power grid. The villages and scattered dwellings can be supplied electricity based on renewable sources of energy generation, either by stand-alone or mini-grid systems with an installed generation capacity of less than 5MW.
Technologies under the policy will be addressed to mini-hydel, hybrid systems, solar photo voltic and thermal, mini-wind systems, bio-energy resulting from anaerobic gas digesters, pyrolitic biomass, gasification and co-generation.
To read the full article please click here.
"Solar for All" initiatie launches contest on innovative photovoltaic off-grid power supply systems
Ashoka and Canopus Foundation, initiators of the 'Solar for All' initiative, announce the "Solar for All" competition on innovative low-cost photovoltaic systems and customer financing schemes. The contest aims at manufacturers, PV system integrators, and social entrepreneurs providing sustainable and reliable energy to low income end-users without access to the electricity grid.
"Until today the access to modern energy is constrained by factors such as limited access to appropriate affordable technology, fragmented small markets, prohibitive taxes, and limited financial resources," Prof Eicke Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy ISE and chairman of the jury explains. "The 'Solar for All' initiative wants to meet the technical and financial challenge with a global design contest." The final preparatory work has been concluded in a workshop with the jury hosted by Dipal Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
"A lot of projects in the past failed because the project developers were not taking an end-user perspective", remarks Peter Heller, Director of Canopus Foundation. "Our contest will motivate key-players to focus on end user needs, enhance modularity, scalability and replicability of PV systems as well as design innovative payment and financing schemes." The winner of the 'Solar for All' contest will be awarded a $250,000 equity investment by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation. Three of the finalists will also be recognized for innovations in technology, finance and marketing. Participants in the contest could also be supported by a projected $100 million solar investment fund. This new fund, to be established by the 'Solar for All' initiative, will invest across the PV solar value chain, including microfinance support. David Green of Ashoka shares "we want the fund investment criteria to tilt the solar industry in the direction of affordable solar energy for low income communities".
The contest begins on December 1st, 2009 and the submission period ends on April 30th, 2010. For further information go to: www.sfa-pv.org
Contact: Barbara Börner
Canopus Foundation
E-Mail bboerner(at)canopusfund.org
Phone: +49 761 2020 172
Rural Electrification and Renewable Energies Events: Incoming appointments
Event with ARE participation
13 – 15 April 2010: Workshop on Financing Sustainable Rural Electrification, Africa Dialogues | Nairobi, Kenya.
The Nairobi workshop will focus on dialogues with high level representatives of African countries for facilitating the establishment of a framework that will attract capital investment and foster deployment of low carbon technologies. The workshop is part of a series of workshops that e8 has undertaken with the collaboration of UN DESA and GEF.
The initiative was designed to stimulate discussions and share perspectives on risk associated with power sector investment in rural and peri-urban electrification projects in Africa, with a focus on opportunities to enhance countries' capacity to attract advanced power technology financial flows through the development of appropriate policy strategies and action plans. The desired outcome of the workshop is to have each participating country prepare a plan of action which will address the strategies and policies needed for attracting capital for rural and peri-urban electrification.
The participants at the workshop are high level representatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia with whom private sector representatives either members of e8 or of the Alliance will interact. Several members of ARE will participate to the event, along with the policy officer of the Alliance who will present the position of the Alliance on the issues.
ARE Participation: Simon Rolland, ARE Policy Officer.
22 April 2010: Global Forum about the Africa-EU Energy Partnership | Vienna, Austria
The ninth meeting of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE-9) will be held as a follow-up to the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) Ministerial High Level Meeting.
The goal of the High Level Meeting is not only to sustainably strengthen the political dialogue, but above all to agree on the Energy Partnership’s targets on energy access in Africa, energy security, renewable energies and energy efficiency. Moreover, the Meeting of Vienna will adopt a declaration of the Ministers incorporating these targets. A further objective is to obtain effective and positive publicity for the Partnership’s successes and the progress achieved. Therefore, GFSE-9 will provide a good platform to discuss these targets as well as innovative approaches and proposals relevant to the implementation of the AEEP decisions.
As usual, the GFSE meeting will facilitate discussions between different stakeholders from science, industry, NGOs, UN Organizations and other development finance institutions. Moreover, there will be a one-day meeting focusing on energy access, energy security and renewable energy in Africa.
ARE participation: Guido Glania, ARE Secretary General.
More information here.
27 - 29 April 2010: International Small Wind Conference 2010 | Glasgow, UK
Following the success of the inaugural International Small Wind Conference 2009, the conference will be repeated in 2010 with more delegates, exhibitors and visitors. ISWC2010 will be held at Glasgow Science Centre and over 400 people are expected along with 35 companies which will be displaying their small wind products and services at the exhibition.
Small wind systems are massively taking off worldwide. Driven by government policy, planning, building regulations, climate change and increasing fossil fuel prices, microgeneration technologies are increasingly becoming an integral part of national, householder or business approaches to energy use and onsite generation. Furthermore, in the framework of rural electrification small wind can play a very interesting role and therefore developing and emerging economies start to represent an interesting market for small wind companies. ARE will be present there to meet up with these companies, promote the Alliance and describe this market potential.
ARE Participation: Simon Rolland, ARE Policy Officer.
More details here.
28 April 2010: Seminar Basics of Small Wind Turbines | Tarragona, Spain
Small wind turbines can be combined with PV and other electricity generating components to provide electrical power in hybrid systems and mini-grids. This one-day seminar preceding the 5th European PV-Hybrid and Mini-grid Conference will give an introduction to small wind turbines, covering the following topics: potentials and challenges, state of technology, turbine concepts, system integration and optimisation, performance, costs, quality, safety and certification, planning, installation and operation, example projects and field experience. The seminar will focus on small wind turbines with nominal power ranging from a few hundred watts up to about 30 kW.
ARE Participation: Guido Glania, ARE Secretary General.
More details here.
29 – 30 April 2010: 5th European PV-Hybrid and Mini-Grid Conference | Tarragona, Spain
This European Conference will take place at the crucial moment where changes are shaping the electricity generation and distribution paradigm of the future. Among the major driving forces of this transition are the development of both PV Hybrid systems and their integration into micro- and mini-grids for high penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). ARE members receive a reduction of 100,- Euros on the participation fee. Please refer to your ARE membership when registering.
ARE Participation: Guido Glania, ARE Secretary General.
More details here.
29-30 April 2010: International Dialogue Latin America and Caribbean Technological Cooperation: Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency Frameworks – Strategies – Perspectives | Berlin, Germany.
The EU-LAC Forum aims to unite and establish an informal high-level dialogue between government representatives, business community, civil society and academic community in the context of the EU-LAC bi-regional process. The EU-LAC Forum will contribute to the bi-regional activities in the area of Innovation and Technology, which will also be the focus of the next EU-LAC Summit in Madrid 2010.
ARE participation: Ernesto Macias, ARE President.
More details here.
10 June 2010: Off Grid Power Conference | Munich, Germany (Intersolar).
The Alliance will be one again present to one of the biggest PV fair in the world. In this framework, we will also participate to the non less interesting off grid power conference organised every year par BSW.
The 2010 focus of this conference will be: Quality assurance for products and services. International speakers will present their experience in controlling and maintaining technical quality of solar components and systems. This will lead to the question on how a technical service can be organised to maintain on the long run the quality of off-grid-PV systems.
Financial implications of quality control in larger PV projects will also be presented and discussed. Operators of different solar dissemination strategies like fee-for-service or micro-financed approaches will share their view on quality control. This will lead to the question on the ´price´ of high or low quality on the long run.
ARE Participation: ARE secretariat
More details here.
ARE Social Event at Intersolar
Following the off-grid sector day, the Alliance will organize its traditional networking social event gathering the friends, partners and members of the Alliance as well as all the persons interested in exchanging with us and in learning on the promising and exciting new markets of developing and emerging countries.
This year event will be sponsored by Trojan Battery:
(Click to visit Trojan Battery website)
(Other sponsorship opportunities exist; don’t miss the opportunities to increase your company visibility in this global event. For more information, contact us).
Other Renewable and rural electrification events
13 – 16 April 2010: XXII CLER, Latin-American Conference on Rural Energy and Telecommunications | Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The conference will approach the problems the links between rural energy and Telecommunications which affect the expansion possibilities of rural areas. CLER conferences usually focus on technological improvements, design and installation but also on tariff setting, CSR, environmental concerns, social, political and cultural issues. This well established event in Latin-America will gather most of the key actors in the continent and receive the support of internationally well-known companies.
More details here.
19 - 21 April 2010: 5th German African Energy Forum | Germany
The forum will seek to attract cooperation partners from Africa and Germany, to further increase the attention of the German energy industry on the potential of the African continent and to increase the economic relations between both continents.
On the 19th of April two sessions will be dedicated to renewable energies.
More details here.
16 – 19 June 2010: Hidroenergia 2010, small stream make rivers | Lausanne, Switzerland.
Organized by ESHA since 1989, the Hidroenergia Congress gather every two years the main stakeholders of the small hydro power sector in Europe to debate about the hot topics affecting the development of the sector, exchange experiences and present new advances in the technology as well as to network and find business opportunities and partners.
ESHA is a member of the Alliance and we strongly support this key event for a sector which is central is the thematic of access to sustainable energy worldwide.
More details here.
29 June - 1 July 2010: Africa Energy Forum | Basel, Switzerland
On 30 June the yearly Africa Renewable Energy Forum will be organized in Switzerland. The AEF remain a very popular event in the field of energy and electricity and covers broad issues like policy frameworks, financing opportunities, energy efficiency and best practice examples. The organizers expect many participants from African governments.
More details here.