April 2012: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) has published a newsletter highlighting, among others, the launch of the ECOWAS Sustainable Bioenergy Crops Assessment, the adoption of a roadmap for a regional renewable energy and energy efficiency access program, and the organization’s status as the implementing agency for two UNIDO-GEF projects.

On the launch of the Sustainable Bioenergy Crops Assessment, a collaborative effort by ECREEE, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Industrial Biotechnology Network (IIBN) and QUINVITA, a global industrial crop technology and knowledge provider, the newsletter highlights it will: analyze the potential for increased food production and residue or waste use for bioenergy production; identify environmentally optimal and unacceptable areas for a basket of bioenergy crops in ECOWAS countries; identify three potential pilot projects for sustainable bioenergy production on 10,000–15,000 hectares; and assessment the social, economic, and ecological sustainability of potential projects. A further article highlights an MoU signed between ECOWAS and Brazil on increased bioenergy cooperation.

The newsletter continues by summarizing a workshop at which a roadmap for a regional renewable energy and efficiency access programme was adopted. The roadmap’s aim is to increase universal access to energy in the ECOWAS region by 2030 and make energy services more reliable in urban and peri-urban areas in the ECOWAS region.

The newsletter continues by detailing two UNIDO-GEF projects for which ECREEE is the implementing agency. The first, “Promoting Coordination, Coherence and Knowledge Management under the Energy Component of the GEF Strategic Program for West Africa (SPWA),” is a US$1.6 project to enable the creation of synergies and spillovers amongst SPWA energy projects in ECOWAS countries and Burundi, Chad and Mauritania. The second project, “Promoting Market-based Development of Small to Medium Scale Renewable Energy Systems in Cape Verde,” is a US$7.7 million project aiming to support Cape Verde in its goal of sourcing 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

The newsletter also highlights, among others: the First Call of the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF); ECREEE’s participation at the Vienna Energy Forum; Official Launch of “Supporting Energy Efficiency for Access in West Africa (SEEA-WA)” Project; and the signing of an MoU between ECREEE and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). [Publication: ECREEE Newsletter]