Guinea Bissau Sustainable Energy International Conference

The Guinea Bissau Sustainable Energy International Conference took place between 6 and 7 December 2018 in Bissau, Guinea Bissau. This event welcomed around 150 participants from Guinean public institutions, private sector, financiers, NGOs and academic institutions. 

The high-level event was co-organized by the Government of Guinea Bissau, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association (ALER).

The conference follows-up on the Guinea Bissau Sustainable Energy Investment Workshop, held on 4 May 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, in conjunction with the Sustainable Energy For All Forum. The conference featured the presentation of the 2030 Sustainable Energy Vision and Investment Strategy for the country and included field visits to major PV solar hybrid mini-grids.

This conference was a final mile-stone of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded UNIDO project "Promoting Renewable Energy Investments in the Electricity Sector of Guinea Bissau”. Since 2014 the project assists the Government in creating an enabling environment through combined interventions in the areas of policy and planning, (pre-)investment support, technology demonstration, as well as capacity building.

With support of the GEF and other key partners, Guinea Bissau – one of the poorest and vulnerable countries to climate change in the world - has become an interesting place to invest in renewable energy projects. They cover technology areas such as medium-scale grid-connected solar PV, solar PV hybrid mini-grid systems (between 312 to 500 kW), PV stand-alone and bioelectricity systems for rural electrification and productive uses in the fishery and agricultural sectors. Up to now, more than USD 50 million of funding commitments have been mobilized. The country is currently operating and installing the biggest renewable energy hybrid mini-grid projects of the ECOWAS region (e.g. Bambadinca, Bissora, Contuboel).