Cape Verde firmly on the path towards Energy Transition
Cape Verde remains firm on the path towards Energy Transition, with a view to increase the country's resilience to external shocks, reducing energy dependence, making full use of the potential of existing renewable energies, promoting energy efficiency and electric mobility.
The last 3 years have been years of hard work, with important progress on regulation, planning and structuring of action plans, but 2020, which should have been a critical year for the execution of the National Program for Sustainable Energy (PNSE), with the acceleration of the more operational phase of the designed measures, is being guided by moderate progressess resulting from the difficult situation that the whole world faces, originated by the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
However, in the current context of crisis, the concern with resilience, energy security and universal access to clean energy, gain even more relevance, confirming the assertiveness of our energy policy.
Regarding the Development of Renewable Energies, the goals established in the new Master Plan for the Electric Sector 2018 - 2040 to achieve 30% of electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2025 and to exceed 50% of electricity production from renewable energy sources until 2030 remain, but it will be necessary to make adjustments to the schedule for contracting new products and eventually anticipate part of the planned energy storage projects. The forecast is in 2022 to increase the penetration rate of renewables from 20.67% (2018) to 26.1% in the energy mix with the implementation of ongoing projects.
The focus on distributed generation for self-consumption will also be continued. The last survey carried out in 2018 points to an installed capacity of around 3.8 MW. It is estimated that this figure may currently be around 5 MW and the objective is to reach at least an accumulated 12 MW of distributed generation by 2030.
Regarding Electric Mobility, at least 50 electric vehicles are already circulating in the country. In 2021, the first phase of implementation of the project to promote electric mobility will be continued, which is developing all the necessary legislation and regulations and is setting up a program to grant additional funds to the first buyers of electric vehicles, which should cover about 600 vehicles in 3 years.
We also want to structure an electric mobility project for the artisanal fishing and inter-island transport sector within the scope of the blue economy strategy.
However, the sustainability of these changes necessarily passes through an important effort of institutional development and consolidation, improvement of the business environment and the availability of human resources with high levels of qualification and certification.
Today the Sustainable Development Goals including the Development of Renewable Energies, the Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Access to Energy are part of the agenda of all CPLP Member Countries, which, within the diversity of potentialities and national contexts, represent unique opportunities and privileged experience-sharing places, strengthening cooperation, establishing technical and business partnerships, exchanging experiences, technologies and research, and developing human resources.
The idea to create the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries Energy Network to catalyze this Interinstitutional cooperation between Member States, and which ALER is one of its main drivers, should be placed as a priority on the Organization's Agenda.
Rito Évora
National Diretor of Industry Trade and Energy at Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy of Cape Verde