Ghana | May-16 | ECREEE and oportunities for improving Energy Access in West Africa

Yuri Lima Handem – RE Expert

ECREEE and

oportunities for

improving Energy

Access

in West Africa

“Smart Villages, West Africa

regional Workshop”

ACCRA, GHANA 23-15 MAY 2016

Towards Sustainable

Energy

Outline of the presentation

• ECREEE: ECOWAS Centre For Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

• Current situation of rural electrification in the ECOWAS region

• Regional and national ambitious goals for RE and energy access

• Oportunities for improving energy access through Clean Mini Grids

www.ecreee.org

ECREEE was established to support the

member states in realizing their RE and EE

potential • ECREEE: Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) Centre For Renewable Energy And Energy

Efficiency

• Established by Regulation C/REG. 23/11/08 of the 61st Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers on November 23, 2008. as the ECOWAS agency with the mandate to promote RE&EE markets

• Secretariat is based in Praia, Cape Verde with National Focal Institutions (NFIs) among all ECOWAS countries

• Established with support of core partners:

• Official Inauguration of the Centre on 6th July 2010

• ECREEE was appointed by the ECOWAS Energy Ministers

as the SE4ALL Focal Point for West Africa

www.ecreee.org

West Africa huge energy efficiency and

renewable energy potential is so far largely

unexploited due to some barriers

www.ecreee.org

Low Access to Modern Energy

Services

Climate Changes

Energy Security

CONSTRAINTS & BARRIERS

• Financial/Economics:

High upfront costs of solar or wind compared with smaller scale conventional systems even where

competitive;

Lack of large scale projects at regional level to take advantage of higher solar or wind resource

endowments and economies of scale;

Lack of innovative financing mechanisms.

• Policy and Institutional Issues:

Absence of political targets for renewable energy in general and solar/wind in particular, in many countries;

Non-existent or weak policy measures for level playing field in many countries;

Weak national agencies with unclear responsibility for solar/wind in many countries.

• Capacity Building & Technology Transfer

Inadequate skilled technical manpower in many countries.

Limited or no local manufacturing due to small national markets.

Limited R&D with little or no linkages to entrepreneurial/ manufacturing sector.

WWW.ECREEE.ORG

ECREEE results areas are designed to

address those barriers

www.ecreee.org

RESULT AREA 2: Capacity building

RESULT AREA 1: Tailored policy,

legal and regulatory

frameworks

RESULT AREA 3: Knowledge

management, awareness

raising, networks and advocacy

RESULT AREA 4: Business and Investment Promotion






www.ecreee.org

In the ECOWAS 42% of the population has

access to electricity (8% if we consider only

the rural population)

www.ecreee.org

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Benin BurkinaFaso

Cabo Verde Côte d’Ivoire

The Gambia Ghana Guinea GuineaBissau

Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Senegal SierraLeone

Togo

Shar

e (

%)

of

Po

pu

lati

on

Electricity Access Rates in ECOWAS Member States

National Rate (%)

Urban Rate (%)

Rural Rate (%)

Source: ECREEE, REN21

More than 175 million people with no access to improved electricity services

The distributed generation is already playing

an import role to promote access to

electricity

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Benin BurkinaFaso

Cabo Verde Côted'Ivoire

Gambia Ghana Guinea GuineaBissau

Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo

Shar

e o

f P

op

ula

tio

n

(Pe

rce

nt)

Share of Electrified Population Relying on Grid-connected or Distributed Systems in ECOWAS Member States

Mini-grid or stand-alone systems Grid-connected

Source: ECREEE, IRENA

# existing clean energy mini-grids

0 3 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 29 0 107 1 0 Several

Source: ECREEE






www.ecreee.org

ECOWAS RE POLICY TARGETS BY

2020/2030

WWW.ECREEE.ORG

Grid-Connected RE Targets 2020 2030

RE share in total ECOWAS electricity mix (incl. large hydro)

35% 48%

RE share in total ECOWAS generation capacity (excl. large hydro)

10% 2.425 MW

19% 7.606 MW

Rural RE Targets 2020 2030

Rural population supplied by mini-grids and stand-alone system

22% 25%

Mini-Grids to be installed 60,000

3,600 MW 128,000

7,680 MW

Population served with improved stoves 60% 100%

Population with access to LPG 17% 32%

The ECOWAS goal: universal access for all

the

citizens becomes a reality in 2030

www.ecreee.org

Rural RE Electricity Targets 2020 2030

Share of rural population supplied by mini-grids and stand-alone systems in %

22% 25%

Mini-Grids to be installed 60,000 3,600 MW

128,000 7,680 MW

Stand-alone systems 210,000 262,000

Investment (b€) 32,3 0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2010 2020 2030

Population in mio inhbts

Not supplied

Stand-alone

Off-grid Rural MiniGrids

Grid-based Rural

Population havingaccess in 2010

Source: EREP

The majority of the countries have

already established ambitious goals and

measures to achieve them

Financial support to

developers through

rural electrification funds

Output-based

subsidies for energy

services products

Traditional subsidies

Direct public investments

in access projects

Special support for

Renewable energy

Electricity access goal 35%

rur by

2025

36%

by

2025

50%

by

2015

100% by

2020

100%

by

2030

95% urb.

62% rur by 2022

65% rur by 2030

55% urb.

87% rur by 2030

100% by

2030

82%

by

2030

75% by

2020

80% rur by 2030

100% by

2030

100% by

2017

The ECOWREX (http://www.ecowrex.org/ ) is

our main knowledge management tool Country Profile:an overview of the ECOWAS

member states based on various energy and

socio-economic indicators

Interactive Map Viewer: Combining human

activities, infrastructure and energy potential

helps us to take informed decisions

Analysis and Trends: Compare countries

indicators over time

www.ecreee.org

http://www.ecowrex.org/


Some countries are using Geographic

Information Systems for rural electrification

planning

www.ecreee.org

A regional project has just begun to scale up on the existing initiatives to develop maps on energy access and identify the most cost effective technologies to improve the access rate.

Source: KNUST






www.ecreee.org

Oportunities through Clean Mini Grids

• Grid extension (For villages close to the National grid)

• Clean Mini grid

– Settlements with high populations densities

– Isolated areas

– Increased rate of access

– Smart grid

– Main barrier: regulatory and legal framework (e.g. Tariff)

• Stand alone systems (Scattered settlements)

www.ecreee.org

West Africa clean energy mini-grids market

is still “grant dominated” although

investments are starting to materialise

Source: Trama TecnoAmbiental, 2013

An example of financial analysis of the recovery of 25% of the initial investment in an

operating clean-energy mini-grid in Cabo Verde

At this stage of the market

development there is still need of

financial support to the

promoters to make the

investment economically and

financially viable

To support the market development the

second ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility

(EREF) focused on Clean Mini Grids • Grant co-financing (25-50%): 50.000 -200.000 euro

• Total of 1 M€ available

• Emphasis on sustainability of the project (establishment of a sustainable ownership, management, operation and maintenance system)

• Ability of applicants to mobilize non grant co-funding is positively evaluated

• Launch in May 2014, proposals had to be submitted before 10th August, selected projects were announced in December 2014

www.ecreee.org

THANK YOU

Yuri Lima Handem

[email protected]

ECREEE Secretariat

Achada Santo Antonio

Electra Building, 2nd floor

C.P. 288, Praia, Cape Verde

Tel: +238 2604630, +238 2624608

Email: [email protected]

Skype: info-ecreee

Website: www.ecreee.org www.ecowrex.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ecreee.org/


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Ghana | May-16 | ECREEE and oportunities for improving Energy Access in West Africa