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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Seychelles set to gain from joining clean-technology programme |03 August 2012

The Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) is a programme which promotes renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean-technology investments.

The programme, which started about six years ago in Central America before its implementation in South-East Asia and Africa, is jointly funded by Foreign Affairs of Finland (lead donor), Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
 
The EEP programme aims at increasing access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services through wider uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

This will lead to a reduction of poverty and negative environmental externalities (such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and local pollution) of the conventional energy system.

The programme provides seed financing to cover part of the project costs which are necessary to start and develop a business (such as pilot and demonstration activities) or which can create something in value so that it is worthy of investment (such as pre-feasibility and bankable feasibility studies).

Funding at this stage helps the businesses to sustain themselves for a period of development until they reach a state when they are able to secure investment to continue funding themselves.

To qualify for EEP support, projects should also demonstrate high innovation in delivering energy services, facilitating technology transfer, encouraging cooperation and local stakeholders’ participation in projects.

The targeted beneficiaries are private companies, research institutions, not-for-profit organisations, NGOs and other institutions from the public and private sector.

The EEP contribution to a proposed project is up to a maximum of €200,000 depending on the type of project. The contribution is a non-reimbursable grant principally aimed at supplementing applicants' own funding.

 Project developer co-funding contribution is therefore a key requirement for eligibility for EEP funding for all applicants since that demonstrates commitment, ownership and sustainability of the project.

Although there is no prescribed form and quantum of project developer’s own contribution, the acceptable form and quantum will depend on the type of organisation of the applicant.

 For example, the requirement for a private sector company with resources will be obviously higher than an NGO with limited resources.
The funding modality is a call for proposals which are currently opened twice a year.

The direct beneficiaries of EEP-S&EA will be project developers and institutions directly involved in EEP-S&EA and its activities.

 The final beneficiaries are the energy end-users and also the global community through the reduction of the growth rate of the GHG emissions.


The programme is coordinated by an EEP Regional Coordination Office (RCO), which is hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the participating countries National Coordinators are appointed from the ministries of Energy to take part in the programme implementation.
 
The programme is governed by a steering committee which approves projects for funding and a supervisory board which provides an overall oversight of the programme.

Contributed

Editor’s note:
Seychelles Nation would also like to bring to the attention of its readers of an error when reporting on the EEP launch in Seychelles in its issue of Friday July 27, 2012.

 We referred to the programme as the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP), which is incorrect.

 The correct term is the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with Southern and East Africa (EEP-S&EA) as stated in the above article.

 Our apologies for the mix-up.

 

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