Regulatory and policy options to encourage development of ...

MODULE 9: RENEWABLE ENERGY: REGULATORY AND POLICY OPTIONSpage 9.121ANNEX.CURRENT RENEWABLE ENERGYINITIATIVESEnergy service companiesThe ESCO project was a new approach for providing electric light and other basic servicesto people in rural areas through solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The approach was basedon the Energy Service Company (ESCO) approach. The main objective was to create a sustainablemarket by which the people in rural areas would access the services provided bysolar photovoltaic technology at a fee. The project was initiated by the Government ofZambia (through the Department of Energy) in 1998 with financial support from theSwedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and technical assistance from theStockholm Environment Institute (SEI).This project was executed in three phases: Phase I (June 1998–June 2000), Phase II(October 2001–December 2003) and Phase III (September 2004–September 2005). Theproject is currently at the reporting stage of Phase III.AREEDThe AREED Initiative is a multi-country initiative and was established in 2000 by a groupof multi-lateral (UNEP and the UNF), international companies/NGOs (primarily E&Co) andnational government partners (Ghana, Mali, Senegal, United Republic of Tanzania andZambia). It is being implemented by E&Co and seeks to develop new sustainable energyenterprises that use clean, efficient and renewable energy technologies to meet the energyneeds of the rural poor, thereby reducing the environmental and health consequences of existingenergy use patterns.The main objectives of AREED are:To create rural energy enterprises and to build the capacity of NGOs and institutionsto facilitate enterprise development.To provide early stage funding and enterprise development services to entrepreneurs,build capacity in African NGOs to work with clean energy enterprises and work withfinancial institutions to assess the rural energy business sector as well as integrateenterprise investments into their portfolios.In order to achieve the above objectives, AREED has the following components in its portfolio:Training and tools to help entrepreneurs start and develop energy businesses;Enterprise start-up support in areas such as business planning, structuring and financing;Seed capital for early stage enterprise development;Assistance in sourcing second stage financing.Partnerships with banks and NGOs involved in rural energy development.