Empowering Development Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All DG International Cooperation and Development Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). ISBN: 978-92-79-47821-5 doi: 10.2841/452935 © European Union, 2015 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Cover photo: Pal Teravagimov / Shutterstock.com Printed in Belgium Table of contents 07 Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for all (SE4ALL) Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development 1. EU actions and tools in our energy cooperation 11 Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, Director General for International Cooperation and Development 15 2. Catalysing reforms - making change happen • The EU’s Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) 3. Strengthening our partners • Reinforcing bilateral and multilateral dialogue and strengthening regional cooperation For more information on energy projects, 23 • EU Energy Initiative an outline of projects funded under the ACP-EU Energy Building alliances • Facility and a list of non-selected projects under the latest • The Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) Call for Proposals on Rural Electrification, please check the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sectors/energy_en 4. Empowering rural communities 29 • Call for Proposals on Rural Electrification 5. Fuelling inclusive growth - New Framework, Blending Facilities 63 • Bridging the gap, Ongoing energy projects financed through EU blending instruments • A joint effort, Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for all (SE4ALL) Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for all (SE4ALL) Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Energy is fundamental to sustainable development and eco- The EU encourages strong political ownership on the part of nomic growth across the world. Developing countries increas- our partner countries, backed by support to create the nec- ingly need to provide reliable and clean sources of energy essary implementation capacity and conducive financial ar- to their populations in order to put in place basic services rangements and market security that is necessary for the in areas such as health and education and to power their development of the energy sector. economic potential. With 1.3 billion people living without ac- cess to electricity and the basic benefits and opportunities Countries and regions working together it provides, and 2.6 billion people using wood charcoal and Thirty partner countries have included energy as one of the traditional biomass for cooking fuel, the challenges linked to main focuses of their bilateral cooperation with the European energy remain immense. The close link between the exploi- Union in the new programming period. Energy cooperation tation of energy sources and global climate change is also forms an integral part of regional cooperation efforts as well. obvious. The EU has signed a number of joint declarations with Euro- The EU, a key partner in the energy sector pean and African countries that have decided to work togeth- Energy has been a priority in the portfolio of the EU’s pov- er in the field of energy. These declarations reinforce the po- erty alleviation and eradication strategies for many years. litical ties between partner countries’ political commitments The discussions on the post-2015 development agenda have in the field of energy and the supporting actions financed by identified a close relationship between energy and develop- the EU and relevant donors with targeted partner countries. ment and the objectives to be set in the framework of the new sustainable development goals. The EU has taken up As the first countries have taken the initial steps towards this challenge in a systematic and coherent manner. In coop- operationalizing these declarations and creating solid road- eration with all its international partners, the EU has devel- maps to energy development, more countries are ready to oped a multi-level approach to face the challenges linked to follow the same path. energy poverty. The EU is leading the effort at its own level with the creation Encourage a reinforced political dialogue of an ambitious energy union between its 28 Member States. Reinforcing bilateral and multilateral dialogue and ensuring The rules governing and supporting this effort, as well as the strong political engagement by all actors and partner coun- expected results for growth and the economy, constitute a tries is the first step. A sufficiently stable regulatory environ- model for the expansion of cooperation between countries, ment will also encourage a range of different actors to take regions and continents and an opportunity for industrial and part in the effort and attract the necessary investments. technological advancement. Empowering Development. Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All 5 Creating an enabling environment that allows for trans- cifically, funding from the private sector. After close analysis Things are not so simple for hundreds of millions of people parency, policy and regulatory reforms, cost-recovery of the stakeholders’ views and after having identified barriers in the developing world who have to spend too much of their and investments; to the development of energy project financing, the EU has time and efforts in accessing the energy that they need to Establishing an adequate regulatory framework is the sec- developed a set of innovative financial instruments that can live from day to day. ond important step towards a sound energy sector. This in be used to close the financing gaps and allow project conclu- turn will attract upstream investments that can improve the sion. Providing sustainable energy for all needs to be a priority in service provided to current customers and allow new connec- our international development efforts. The European Union is tions to be made. This will allow for greater business oppor- Policy coherence and the need for close cooperation pursuing this objective through its own development spend- tunities, which will lead to more jobs, new renewable energy with all partners towards sustainable development ing instruments and in the international negotiations on the sources and new activities. At the same time, we will have goals post 2015 post-2015 development agenda. to pay particular attention to empowering energy users that Looking at the increasing importance of energy on the in- play a crucial social role, such as SMEs, rural communities ternational agenda, I am happy to see so many of our inter- Our collective efforts on energy access and energy poverty and, in particular, women. national partners joining the fight against energy poverty. A will help to ensure a fairer and more equitable world for all. key element in building a strong coalition is the recognition Supporting a technology leap – a Technical Assistance of energy access as a Sustainable Development Goal, thus Neven Mimica Facility ensuring a sound policy and project develop- keeping the momentum for the next decade and a half. ment and capacity building The sustainable use of energy is closely linked with tech- The EU will continue to stand alongside our partner countries. nology and bound to sustainable economic growth. The EU We have allocated more than 3 billion euro worth of grants has put in place a dedicated Technical Assistance Facility in support of sustainable energy up to 2020. These actions to support directly preparatory actions in the energy sector. are expected to leverage investments exceeding 15 billion This is necessary in order to provide the best level of policy euro in loans and equity investment, thus filling the gaps in planning and support to our partner countries. Such Technical financing for energy infrastructure, for powering businesses, Assistance aims to generate a technology leap in renewable schools, homes, community centres and hospitals. energy and energy efficiency, catalysing the development of energy policies and helping the development of projects and Access to safe and reliable energy resources is something their financing. that we take for granted. Flicking a switch or turning on a tap provides us with the power we need to do our work, heat and Innovative financial instruments cool our homes, cook our food, keep our schools and hospi- The upscaling of sustainable energy projects can only be en- tals open and generate industrial and economic growth. sured by mobilising all available forces and actors and, spe- Empowering Development. Delivering results in the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All 6 1 EU actions and tools in our energy cooperation Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, Director General for International Cooperation and Development EU actions and tools in our energy cooperation Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, Director General for International Cooperation and Development the opportunities for the poorest people on the planet to es- regulated and sustainable energy services. The lack of techni- cape the worst impacts of poverty. Sustainable energy is cen- cal qualification of the