Are Newsletter April 2013
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ARE NEWSLETTER APRIL 2013 A KIND THANK YOU TO OUR GRACIOUS SPONSORS. www.studer-innotec.com www.sma.de Editorial Marcus Wiemann Executive Director, ARE GONE WITH THE WIND Dear readers, We are happy to devote this issue to small wind power (SW), a very appropriate topic taking into account that ARE’s Small Wind Campaign will come to an end in June. This initiative was launched one year ago with the objective of addressing the bottlenecks, such as the lack of information, that have been preventing decision-makers in developing and emerging countries from integrating this technology into their energy choices for rural communities. To share its industry competences with the involved stakeholders, jointly with its wind members, ARE developed the position paper “The potential of small and medium wind energy in developing countries”. This first activity was followed by a number of very exciting events such as online webinar sessions, a side event at the 1st International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (IOREC) celebrated in Ghana and a Business Delegation to the Ivory Coast. Furthermore ARE could place a number of appreciated articles in prestigious international magazines. In reality it is not only the market development obstacles faced by different types of renewable energies such as small wind but it is also the need for better understanding available sophisticated technological solutions to better bridge energy availabilities and needs. Therefore the Alliance will launch the ARE Energy Storage Campaign at Intersolar Europe in June. As we believe that this is another vital element for enabling sustainable energy access in rural areas. Now back to the Newsletter! In this issue, we will learn more about SW thanks to the contribution of I Love Wind, a NGO with activities in Tanzania. Moreover, the European Wind Energy Association will give us an interesting insight into the propects of the wind industry in emerging markets. Also, please do not miss the latest news from the Alliance:. For example the Secretariat has been very busy the last two months to launch new services for members and to introduce the Alliance to key stakeholders in- and outside Europe. Finally, we would like to warmly welcome our new members Bornay Aerogeneradores (Spain) and Sunna Design (France). Thanks for reading and until next time, Marcus Wiemann In Focus AFRICA VEREIN Afrika-Verein is the German-African Business Association for German companies and institutions with business interests in African countries. Afrika-Verein represents nearly 600 members, including the major German multinationals as well as many medium sized companies with trade links or investments in African countries. A special focus of the activities of Afrika-Verein is given to the energy field. Almost all renowned German energy companies are members of our association; these include the sector of oil & gas (upstream, midstream, downstream), conventional power as well as renewable energies and energy efficiency. A series of business delegations, business days and conferences related to this topic are organized every year both in Germany and Africa. Our main event is the annual German-African Energy Forum, where senior African and German delegates present current developments and resulting business opportunities in the energy sector (www.energyafrica.de). Other events are regularly organized, e.g. with Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria or South Africa among others. Furthermore, Afrika-Verein is a member of various initiatives on African Energy like the German- Nigerian Energy Partnership of the German Government and the Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA). Afrika-Verein, on behalf of its member companies, aims at maintaining and broadening the activities in the energy sector and therefore extends a general invitation to all African Energy Ministries and Companies to organize business meetings and in-depth contacts with the German Energy Business. Please find more information at www.africaverein.de and www.energyafrica.de I LOVE WINDPOWER - TANZANIA What is I Love Windpower – Tanzania? I Love Windpower - Tanzania (ILWPT) is a NGO that has been stimulating economic activity in Tanzania in the field of locally produced wind turbines since 2010, providing knowledge of how to produce and install a small-scale wind turbine with local materials, and training on business models and maintenance aspects. How does ILWPT achieve this goal? ILWPT developed an intensive two-week master-class, the participants of which are a mixture of business men and women from the renewable energy sector, mechanical and electrical engineers, and craftspeople on the vocational level. These trainings have been very successful, since what they represent is a balanced mixture of theoretical background and learning-by-doing, and the wind turbines produced during the workshops have been distributed all over the country (click here for a map of where these turbines are currently installed). The training focused on the Piggott design, which has been chosen for its advanced technology. Theoretical lessons on the economic aspects are also included, as well as information on how to design a hybrid with solar-PV, especially suitable for the geography of Tanzania, a country known or: renowned for its unknown wind regime. What do the participants receive? Technical issues of operation and maintenance are presented and studied by the participants. Furthermore, the installation of one or two fully-operating wind turbines at the end of the master- class give an enormous enrichment to the participants. One participant told us: "I've attended many trainings in my life, but this was the best! I have the feeling I really understand how to capture the energy from the wind. It is unbelievable that we build these wind turbines ourselves." What do the authorities think? The activity of ILWPT was received very positively by the Rural Energy Agency (REA), which is responsible for the electrification of Tanzanian rural areas without access to the grid. Electrification of these regions can be achieved more efficiently by installing a stand-alone wind/solar/genset- hybrid system instead of grid extension. Moreover, the Tanzanian Renewable Energy Association (TAREA) is promoting wind energy among their members who are, for the most part, only familiar with solar energy. Is there real business? Recently, ILWPT has founded one new spin-off company called Windpower Serengeti Ltd, and provided training and capacity building to four other SME's to such a level (consider rephrasing) that they all produced and sold their own small-scale wind turbines based on the Piggott-design and the principles acquired in the training. To produce and maintain these wind turbines in a sustainable way, training and capacity building is a key factor. ILWPT is glad that the Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA) is considering incorporating the training of locally produced small-scale wind turbines into the Renewable Energy curriculum, with a focus on those areas of Tanzania that have a favourable wind regime. ILWPT is an active member of Wind Empowerment, which shares the same mission. Within this Worldwide Association, more than 25 organisations cooperate on the open-source knowledge of small-scale wind turbines for developing countries. Contact details: I Love Windpower – Tanzania: roland(at)i-love-windpower.com Windpower Serengeti Ltd: windpower.serengeti(at)gmail.com For further information, other Tanzanian companies involved in wind energy, NGOs and governmental institutes as mentioned above can also be contacted via these two email addresses. MEMBER’S INTERVIEW It is EWEA’s objective to facilitate national and international policies and initiatives that strengthen the development of European and global wind energy markets, infrastructure and technology in order to achieve a more sustainable and cleaner energy future. What are EWEA’s activities outside Europe? Are your members exploring business opportunities in developing countries and in emerging markets? EWEA’s activities focus primarily on European markets, and yet on this continent there is a surprisingly high range of emerging markets. Earlier this year, EWEA published a report delving into Europe’s emerging markets, including some markets outside the European Union (EU)’s borders. The conclusions were that, within the EU, the share of the EU’s annual wind energy installations in the newer member states (which are also wind energy’s emerging EU markets) grew from just over 2% in 2005 to 12.5% in 2011. The EU’s current key emerging markets are Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. Beyond the EU itself, Turkey is a key emerging market. The government has set the very ambitious target of installing a total of 20 GW of wind energy by 2023. Currently, renewables account for 25% of electricity production, and Turkey aims to increase this figure to 30% by 2023. Europe-wide also has one of the best growth-rates for wind energy capacity, and one of the fastest-growing electricity sectors in the world – so it holds a lot of opportunity! Croatia, soon to join the EU, is also a key wind energy emerging market. The country has a 35% renewables target in electricity consumption by 2020 and a 4.7 GW project pipeline in wind energy. It also has a good local supply chain for wind energy, but bureaucratic procedures to obtain approval for a wind farm are time-consuming and tiresome. To the East of the EU, the Ukraine with its strong wind resources is another potential market. However, it lacks in ambitious renewable energy targets, access to finance is also difficult and the local content requirements currently in place may slow down the development of the industry. While growth opportunities in the following countries are not expected in the near-future, there is potential in Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia. Among your small wind activities, you have partnered with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the NGO Renewable World to promote rural electrification.