Countries

From 7th to 10th October, ALER visited Guinea-Bissau to coordinate different activities and projects to be implemented in the country.

In March, ALER signed a contract with the African Development Bank (AfDB)/Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to implement the Africa Mini-Grid Market Acceleration Programme (AMAP) in four Portuguese-speaking African countries, namely Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau.

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, which holds the Presidency-in-Office of the CPLP, together with the Energy Thematic Commission of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by ALER and RELOP, are promoting the 1st CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar. The event, which will take place on 2nd July 2024, at the CPLP headquarters Auditorium in Lisbon (Portugal), brings together members of government, energy company leaders and financiers in a debate on the energy transition in CPLP Member States.

The latest editions of ALER's Market Sheets, now known as ALER Market Outlook, were launched on 27th and 28th May,during the ALER Market Outlook 2024 event. To provide a brief overview of the renewable energy sector in Portuguese-speaking African countries, the ALER Market Outlook condenses all the privileged information that ALER has access to, highlighting the most recent and relevant data for each country.

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, which holds the Presidency of the CPLP, together with the Energy Thematic Committee of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by ALER and RELOP, and with the institutional support of the CPLP, will promote an Energy and Climate Seminars Series to discuss the contribution of climate finance mechanisms to accelerating the energy transition in the CPLP Member States.

On 4th June, ALER and GreenVenture hosted the webinar “Energizing Africa: How EU Financing is Changing the Renewable Landscape?”. The recording of the webinar and the speakers' presentations are now available online on the event page.

The United Nations has declared 26th January 2024 the first International Day of Clean Energy and ALER marked the date with the release of the latest data on the incorporation of clean energy in Portuguese-speaking countries.

The government of Guinea-Bissau has signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the implementation of the project that aims to boost renewable energy.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global renewable electricity capacity increased by 50% between 2022 and 2023, and the next five years will see the fastest growth ever. However, the lack of funding for emerging and developing economies is a problem.

"Lusophone Compact (LC) operates as a framework, a gateway that is always open, for private companies to submit their projects. (...) The Compact creates a privileged space for the development of renewable energy by the private sector in the PALOP."

Meeting of Energy Ministers resulted in new developments for energy policies in the country of which: adoption of the updated ECOWAS Energy Policy, approval of the Regional Electricity Code and the ECOWAS Green Hydrogen Policy.

In an interview with the Guinean newspaper "O Democrata", Abdu Jaquité, delegate of the Government of Guinea-Bissau said that the photovoltaic (PV) power plants that are planned to be installed will make up for the country's energy deficit.

In the week of Women's Day, ALER relaunches a Solidarity Campaign to provide energy to local communities in Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau by promoting projects authored by women entrepreneurs.

The 2022 World Bank Report charts the evolution of energy indicators by country and concludes that sub-Saharan Africa scored highly on electricity access policy.

Telectrinf, an ALER Member, in consortium with a local partner, won the tender for the installation of the photovoltaic (PV) power plant on the island of Bolama in Guinea-Bissau.

"We reinforced the activities for which we are already known, positioning ourselves as an active and relevant player in the debate on the energy sector in the Portuguese-speaking countries, a networking facilitator to national/regional/international level and a source of privileged and up-to-date information, developing renewable energies growth in these countries."

The AfDB and the Portuguese Government signed a guarantee agreement to be granted to the African Development Bank under the Lusophone Compact, in which Portugal will provide guarantees of up to 400 million euros exclusively for projects financed by the AfDB and approved under this agreement.

Isabel Cancela de Abreu, ALER’s Executive Director, gave an interview to Público newspaper in which she explained that African countries “are energy islands, they do not have the interconnections that exist in Europe and, deep down, they are used to fending for themselves”.

ALER is looking for a Financial and Administrative Manager to take up their duties as soon as possible, preferably in the first half of October.

I realized that in the energy sector women are hardly represented, therefore representation goes to men. We had testimonies from some women who were able to explain how difficult it was for them to integrate in this sector. Often, due to lack of knowledge or motivation, society itself considers that the energy sector is more suitable for men.

The "Microgrid Global Innovation Forum" takes place from September 13th to 15th in London. Use the ALER discount code and enjoy a 20% discount on registration.

New IRENA report, published on July 13th, shows that almost two-thirds of renewable power added in 2021 had lower costs than the cheapest coal-fired options in G20 countries.

In June, ALER was present at the Africa Energy Forum 2022 that took place in Brussels, Belgium, as well as at the Energy Access Investment Forum 2022 event that took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

REN21's 2022 Global Status of Renewable Energy Report states that the global transition to clean energy is not happening. “There was record growth in renewable energy, but the world missed the historic chance to recover clean energy,” the report says.

Applications for the Construction of a mini solar grid in Bolama as well as the respective electricity grid, are accepted until June 27, at 12pm

During the Forum held from 16 to 19 May in Kigali, Rwanda, initiatives amounting to more than US$347 million were presented to support energy access and transition.

Renewable energies are "a fundamental foundation for security and overall improvements in growth and living standards", says David Malpass, President of the World Bank

ALER organized the 4th Edition of ALER Open Day, which followed the ALER General Assembly, in which the Members elected the new members of the governing structure for the 3rd term of the Association.

Until May 23rd, registration is open for the Online Workshop Training for Trainers: Training Program on Sustainable Energy Solutions for Islands.

During the month of April, the Women Sustainable Energy Program ended thematic sessions and began the last phase of the project, dedicated to mentoring sessions.

On May 24th, ALER will hold the ALER Open Day, an opportunity to exchange contacts, share and disseminate privileged information with our partners and other members.

Renewable energy continued to expand steadily and well above the long-term trend, with share in total capacity expansion reaching new record of 81% last year.

In the month that marks World Women's Day, ALER gives voice to 13 inspiring women who fight for gender equality in the energy sector.

On March 10th at 18:30 (GMT) ALER joins HEDEN Lisbon to talk about energy, women and sustainability.

The Workshop on Entrepreneurship and Startups in Sustainable Energy will last for two days, and will be dedicated to the planning, management and implementation of projects in Sustainable Energy.

The first two training sessions of the Sustainable Energy Program for Women were dedicated to social media management and personal marketing.

Applications were available until January 31st and 26 were received from Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.

UNIDO, ENERGIA and GWNET came together to hold the side-event "Improving gender equality and women's empowerment to accelerate a fair, inclusive and climate-resilient energy transition"