ALER meets with the Minister of Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Environment of São Tomé and Príncipe

With the start of the new year and the consequent planning of new activities, ALER met on January 19th with the Minister of Infrastructures, Natural Resources and Environment of São Tomé and Príncipe, the newly elected Adelino Rosa Cardoso.

The meeting, which took place in Lisbon, aimed to strengthen the existing ties between ALER and the Ministry, through the presentation of the activities developed and implemented by ALER in the country (from the "International Conference - Sustainable Energy in São Tomé and Príncipe", to the Webinar "National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Action Plans for São Tomé and Príncipe"). In retrospect, ALER’s scope of action was presented and future collaborations were put in perspective.

In this sense, ALER returns to the calendar of events on February 8th, with the webinar "Energy Efficiency, the driving force for energy transition in São Tomé and Príncipe", whose registration, free of charge, is already open here, and which will have the participation of the Minister Adelino Rosa Cardoso as a speaker.

During this meeting, the vision and strategy of the Ministry for the current electoral period was also debated, in which it was agreed that the energy transition and the climate are a priority.

Minister Adelino Rosa Cardoso assured that "the country's objective is to reach the goal of at least 50% of renewable energies by 2030, implementing with the development partners the necessary measures to achieve the expected.

To this end, the Ministry organised a round table, at the end of January, in São Tomé and Príncipe, with the participation of the various players in the sector to discuss and present the planning of the main intervention actions and strategies.  

São Tomé and Príncipe is thus reinforcing its commitment to renewable energies through projects on a larger scale, but also by following a decentralized logic for the dissemination of actions throughout the country. Although it is a small country whose dispersion and orographic characteristics may be a barrier to the extension of the energy grid, the development of mini-grids and home solar systems are a strategy to achieve total electrification.

The focus on the diversification of energy production and the valorisation of partnerships with different organisations and entities are two of the political strategies of this Ministry to attract technical and financial support to enable the energy transition.

In July, São Tomé and Príncipe will host the next summit of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), taking on the future presidency of the organisation. The country intends to take advantage of this leadership to develop initiatives that contribute to the advancement of energy transition and for São Tomé and Príncipe to be considered a model country for the other Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

ALER thus reinforces its partnership, interest and collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructures, Natural Resources and Environment, so that we can contribute to the energy transition and decarbonisation as the near future of the country.