The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a significant financing programme to boost renewable energy generation via the private sector in North African and Middle Eastern countries.
US$ 250 million in financing will be available for projects in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan; regions where fossil fuels still have a stranglehold. According to the International Energy Agency, all SEMED countries still derive the majority of their primary energy supply from gas, oil or coal.
“For the first time in this region the private sector is now able to produce and sell clean renewable energy on a commercial basis competing head to head with gas and oil-fired generation,” said EBRD’s Nandita Parshad.
” We are grateful to our partners in this programme, the CTF and GEF funds and the Union for the Mediterranean for their support in catalyzing this development”.
Once projects supported by the initiative have been constructed, they could result in direct reductions of 700,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year – and significantly more from the market changes the programme is expected to deliver.
The 120 MW Khalladi wind farm near Tangiers in Morocco is expected to be the first private project to be assisted through the scheme. The facility will have a net expected electricity generation estimated at 296,100 MWh/year and will avoid 2,143,960 metric tonnes CO2 equivalent per annum. The 40 wind turbines to be installed will be supplied by the Danish manufacturer Vestas.
“We hope that this programme and the types of projects it finances will serve as a blueprint for other regions seeking to promote private renewable energy investments,” said Mafalda Duarte, Program Manager for the Climate Investment Funds; one of the partners in the initiative.
The EBRD programme will support various business models; everything from small scale generation in communities to direct agreements between large developers and corporate electricity customers.
The EBRD says it has undertaken new commitments to invest 40 per cent of its annual business volume by 2020 in projects supporting sustainable energy and resources. The EBRD, which is active in more than 30 countries, states it is the largest renewables investor in its region.
