2016 Retrospective

Dear Members and Friends of ALER,

The holiday season invites us to make a retrospective. It is therefore a good opportunity to remember the key milestones of ALER's activity over the last year, which is about to come to an end.

The highlight has undoubtedly been the drafting, publication and presentation of the "Renewables in Mozambique – National Status Report". It is a in-depth work on the reality of this sector in Mozambique, its regulation, ongoing projects, as well as barriers towards its full development. The official launch took place at the event "Mozambique Renewable Energy Investment Workshop”, organized by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) together with the Energy Fund (FUNAE), on November 21 in Maputo, Mozambique.

It was also noteworthy the signature of the Cooperation Agreement between ALER and RECP (Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme) on September 19, which will support different ALER’s activities for the promotion of renewables in Portuguese-speaking countries.

This year ALER also organized the 1st Edition of ALER Open Day, which took place in March,  aiming to bring together Members and share the progress of different initiatives in ALER's priority countries, and to serve as a forum to exchange ideas and to set out action priorities. The success of this initiative clearly points to the short-term preparation for the next edition.

2016 was a year full of relevant events where ALER played an active role. It should be noted the participation in the 3rd Annual Workshop on Advancing SE4All Country Action in Abidjan, the 1st CPLP Energy Technical Meeting held in Malabo, in October, in which ALER integrated the Portuguese delegation as well as, more recently, the participation of ALER’s Vice-President, Ms. Miquelina Menezes, as a speaker at the IX Conference of RELOP - Association of Energy Regulators of Portuguese Speaking Countries.

During this year, in April, the field trip to Angola was also undertaken. This trip was very productive and allowed to extend ALER’s contacts network and to engage in cooperation and information sharing with the relevant national entities in the energy sector.

One final remark on our two new Members who joined ALER this year: Ecovisão and the law firm Taciana Peão Lopes & Advogados Associados.

Finally, a personal word of appreciation to ALER’s tireless team, who continued to show a tremendous commitment to the sucess of the Association and full support to the Board. To Isabel Cancela de Abreu, in particular, to whom 2016 brought something invaluable, Motherhood, I wish all the Happiness!

And to you all Happy Holidays and see you in 2017! 

Pedro Neves Ferreira

President of ALER