Clean Energy Corridors in Africa

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General

Name of initiative	African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC)
LPAA initiative	Yes
NAZCA Initiative	Yes
Website address	http://irena.org/menu/index.aspx?mnu=Subcat&PriMenuID=30&CatID=79&SubcatID=343
Related initiatives
Starting year	2015
End year
Secretariat	IRENA, Safiatou Alzouma Nouhou – Regional Programme Officer for sub-Saharan Africa SAlzouma@irena.org, phone: +97124179071 and Gurbuz Gonul, e-mail: ggonul@irena.org
Organisational structure
Geographical coverage	Africa
Name of lead organisation	IRENA
Type of lead organisation	NGO/Civil Society
Location/Nationality of lead organisation	United Arab Emirates

Description

Description	The Africa Clean Energy Corridor, regional platforms to accelerate deployment of renewable energy through economy of scale and optimisation of resources.
Objectives	The initiative calls for accelerated deployment and cross-border trade of renewable power in a continuous network from Egypt to South Africa.
Activities	Climate Summit 2014, hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General in New York in September 2014, marks an important step forward in implementing the initiative, with heads of state, partner organizations and leaders from the private sector lending their support to the next phase of the Africa Clean Energy Corridor process. The IRENA Communiqué on the Africa Clean Energy Corridor, adopted at the fourth IRENA Assembly on 17 January 2014, outlines the aims and forms the basis for actions under the initiative.
One or two success stories achieved	1. Renewable Energy Zoning has been completed and the sites identified are being used by some countries on order to open tenders for renewable energy projects. 2. The initiative is assisting countries and regional power pools in updating the power Master Plans, to consider Least-Cost Renewable Energy options based on the results of the renewable energy zoning.

Monitoring and Impacts

Function of initiative	Capacity building, Political dialogue
Activity of initiative	Training and education, Advocacy, Policy planning and recommendations
Indicators
Goals
Comments on indicators and goals
How will goals be achieved
Have you changed or strenghtened your goals
Progress towards the goals	'Renewable Energy Resource Assessment and Zoning' • Developed the zoning methodology for the identification of high resource potential and cost-effective power generation zones, which has been validated by stakeholders from utilities, government, regulatory bodies, power pools and academia within the region. • Collected extensive data from EAPP and SAPP countries on their renewable energy resource potential, existing and planned grid-transmission infrastructure and road networks, protected areas, national electricity load profiles and infrastructure expansion costs, for use in the zoning analysis. • Determined renewable energy zones in EAPP and SAPP member countries and presenting these to stakeholders, highlighting developable areas for wind and solar (both utility-scale photovoltaic and concentrated solar power) technologies. • Assessing the financial viability of selected zones, factoring in cash flow, cost of debt and return on equity, within three pilot countries. 'Enabling Investment Frameworks' • Development of least-cost System Planning Test models to support planning for long-term power generation expansion plans in all continental African countries. The tools have been made available, and five regional training seminars held, with a total of 140 African energy planners taking part. The models are built on assessments of power-generation potential in the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy and the IRENA Renewable Cost Database, in addition to regional power infrastructure databases. They calculate least-cost plans for the expansion of power generation over the next 20-40 years, taking into account various operational constraints. The models also allow policy makers to assess least-cost investment options in light of a specific policy goal, such as a renewable energy penetration target, import independence, affordability or CO2 targets. • Zoning work is being deepened at national levels, with support provided to selected countries to consider identified solar and wind zones as part of integrated national energy master plans. Zoning results have started to be incorporated into regional power-pool planning in East and Southern Africa. Additionally, IRENA has started providing zoning results to help specific site assessments in selected ACEC countries. 'National and Regional Planning' • Support for market assessments and the creation of new frameworks, in order to open markets to independent renewable power producers, reduce the costs of renewable power financing, and facilitate renewable power trade and power system integration. • Guidance provided, through Renewables Readiness Assessments, to Swaziland, Djibouti, Mozambique, and Zambia on development of enabling policy, legislative and institutional frameworks. Similar country-level consultations have also taken place in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. • Initiation of support to national and regional agendas for sustainable power system regulation development, by fostering the creation of enabling regulatory frameworks based on global good practices. Such support, which is needs-driven, includes providing various technical advice adapted to the regional context. • Initiation of discussions on the potential of using Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) to develop power systems that include newly integrated renewable resources; and to establish regulatory frameworks for IRP development and implementation. • Consultation with stakeholders in EAPP countries to develop and implement a corresponding, but tailor-made, plan in the EAPP region. • Encouragement of concrete investments through the Sustainable Energy Marketplace, an online portal that helps projects using renewables get off the ground. The Marketplace brings together project owners, governments, financiers, and service/technology providers, enhancing their understanding of the market, creating a transparent and structured framework, boosting project success rates and supporting sustainable development and energy access in Africa. The Marketplace registered 46 renewable energy projects in ACEC countries in its first year, including 36 power-generation projects with 0.751 gigawatts of power under development at a cost of USD 1.7 billion. 'Capacity Building' • Held capacity-building workshops related to the renewable power zoning process in the EAPP and SAPP regions. The workshops, attended by ministries, utilities, regulatory bodies, and academics, presented preliminary study results and provided a platform for explaining the zoning process and methodology. • Organised five introductory training seminars on energy planning and the use of planning tools for the ACEC countries, which were attended by energy planning officers, utility planners and academics. • Preparations to provide further technical support and advisory services to targeted institutions, in order to enable them to independently manage and update IRENA’s ACEC zoning study, as well as to enhance their planning capacity using energy planning tools. • Holding the first IRENA Renewable Energy Training Week on regulation. The continuing training week series inform decision makers in governmental bodies and industry about the possible paths for the development and integration of renewable resources into today’s power systems.
How are you tracking progress of your initiative	Progress of the initiative is reported and guided during IRENA’s governing body meetings, such as biannual Councils and annual Assemblies. Regular updates are communicated through the national focal points and regional entities.
Available reporting	The regularly-updated ACEC brochures on the irena.org website, as well as the IRENA quarterly bulletin.

Participants

Participants	Number	Names
Members	0
Companies	0	a,b
Business organisations	0
Research and educational organisations	0
Non-governmental organisations	0
National states	0
Governmental actors	0
Regional / state / county actors	0
City / municipal actors	0
Intergovernmental organisations	0
Financial Institutions	0
Faith based organisations	0
Other members	0
Supporting partners	0
Number of members in the years	2018 81
Have only national states as participators	No

Theme

Transport	Agriculture	Forestry	Business	Financial institutions	Buildings	Industry	Waste	Cities and subnational governments	Short Term Pollutants	International maritime transport	Energy Supply	Fluorinated gases	Energy efficiency	Renewable energy	Supply chain emission reductions	Adaptation	Other	Resilience	Innovation	Energy Access and Efficiency	Private Finance
No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Last update: 16 June 2020 12:44:04

Not only have national states as participators