ALER and MINEA sign cooperation agreement for Angolan and European partners
On Thursday, June 1st, ALER, the Angolan Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) and the EU-Angola Dialogue Facility signed an Action Implementation Agreement under the 3rd EU-Angola Dialogue Facility Call for Proposals (CAP3). The joint proposal from ALER and MINEA was one of eight selected among 44 applications.
You can read the official Press Release and consult the other approved projects here.
The signing ceremony took place at the Hotel Skyna, in Luanda, and was attended by the Ambassador of the European Union in Angola, Jeannette Seppen, the National Director for Integration, Cooperation and International Affairs of MEP, Dr. Jerónimo Pongolola, and the Director of Cooperation Europe of MIREX, Ambassador Maria Cuandina de Carvalho. Representing MINEA to sign the agreement was the National Director of Renewable Energy and Rural Electrification, Eng. Serafim Silveira, and ALER was represented by its Vice President, Eng. Nuno Gomes from SOAPRO Angola.
The Action proposed by MINEA and ALER, which will receive financial support from the EU, aims to create an "Exchange of Experiences on Solar Home Systems", which foresees the realization of a technical mission to Mozambique and a diagnosis on the challenges and barriers to off-grid electrification in the Angolan context, establishing a set of recommendations to strengthen cooperation between Angola and the European Union, within the scope of expanding Energy Access, with the purpose of implementing a Solar Home System Programme, directed at rural and peri-urban areas outside the current energy distribution grid. This action will enable an analysis of the impact of the "FASER - Fund for Sustainable Access to Renewable Energy" Programme in Mozambique, in order to consider, together with the partners and the Angolan public entities in the sector, the potential replication of a similar Programme in Angola.
For this implementation, ALER and MINEA partnershiped with the Regulatory Institute of Electricity and Water Services (IRSEA), the German cooperation agency (GIZ) in Mozambique and the Angolan Renewable Energy Association (ASAER).
In Angola the current electrification rate is 43%, so the significant participation of off-grid systems, where Solar Home Systems are included, is essential to guarantee universal energy access, as a measure to provide energy to the population in a faster and more cost-effective way than the expansion of the energy grid. Solar Home Systems, in peri-urban and rural areas that are outside the current energy distribution grid, have the potential to promote wider adoption of renewable energy technologies across the country and contribute to the Angolan Government's efforts to provide universal access to energy.
This Action will be developed under the EU-Angola Dialogue Facility, a project financed by the European Development Fund, which aims to support Actions promoted by Angolan and European institutions to deepen the regular exchange of knowledge and good practices in the areas defined by the Angola-European Union Joint Pathway Agreement with relevance to the 2018-2022 National Development Plan. The EU-Angola Dialogue Facility is governed by the Project Steering Committee, consisting of the Ambassador of the European Union in Angola, the Minister of Economy and Planning and the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs.