15 January 2011
ECOWAS’ ECREEE Releases Second Newsletter
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The ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) has released its second quarterly newsletter, highlighting project news and the results of workshops, business forums and conferences.

1 January 2011: The Economic Community Of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) has published its second quarterly newsletter, providing updates on projects and describing the outcomes of workshops, business forums and conferences.

The Newsletter opens by summarizing the first regional workshop of the ECOWAS Solar Energy Initiative (ESEI) in October 2010, which saw the creation of a roadmap for large-scale solar energy development. The Newsletter also features an article on the third ECOWAS Business Forum of October 2010, which stressed the need for minimum renewable energy targets in the ECOWAS region, and called upon the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to move quickly on renewables. The newsletter also describes ECREEE’s participation at the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC) in New Delhi, India, and at the First High-Level Meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) in Vienna, Austria.

On project implementation, the publication highlights that the largest solar Photovoltaic Plant in Africa was commissioned in November, 2010, in Praia, Cape Verde, bringing the country on track to meet the goal of its National Plan to source 50% of its national energy mix from renewables by 2020. It further discusses ECREEE projects awarded by the ACP-EU Energy Facility, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It also contains an interview with the Executive Director of ECREEE. [Publication: ECREEE Newsletter] [IISD RS Coverage of the First High-Level Meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP)] [IISD RS Coverage of the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC)]