User:Stoyke~enwiki/Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP)

The Partnership in a Nutshell

 * The Africa-Europe Energy Partnership (AEEP) is a long-term framework for structured political dialogue and co-operation between Africa and the EU on energy issues of strategic importance
 * It creates a much-needed dedicated forum for energy dialogue between the EU and Africa and offers new opportunities for promoting joint action
 * It aims to mobilise increased financial, technical and human resources in support of Africa's energy development
 * Its objective is to increase European and African investments in energy infrastructure and in energy interconnections within Africa and between Africa and Europe through instruments such as the Energy Facility, the EUEI Partnership Dialogue Facility, the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund as well as numerous bilateral instruments
 * It seeks to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as to improve the management of energy resources
 * AEEP issues will have effects at the local, national, regional, continental and global levels.

Global concerns about energy security, energy access and climate change mean that the energy futures of Africa and Europe are increasingly tied together. Numerous African and European countries are dependent on energy imports – and even those that are exporters (of petroleum, gas, biomass and electricity) have to import at least one element of their energy mix. Furthermore, a lack of energy infrastructure, coupled with lack of access to electricity, transport fuels and cooking fuels are a major obstacle to sustainable development in Africa.

The Africa-EU Energy Partnership was launched during the 2nd Africa-EU Summit in December 2007, Lisbon, Portugal where the First Action Plan (2008-2010) was adopted.

The thematic action plan on energy was then translated into an operational roadmap of activities.

Goals

 * effective Africa-EU dialogue on energy access and security
 * improved access to reliable, secure, affordable, green energy services for both continents
 * increased European and African investment in energy infrastructure in Africa, including promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Expected outcomes

 * more investment in energy infrastructure (including renewable energy / energy efficiency) on both supply and demand sides
 * better management of energy resources (especially use of oil and gas resources for development)
 * higher electrification rates, development of networks and cross-border interconnections and other energy exchange infrastructure in Africa and between Africa and Europe
 * better institutional and technical capacities, and donor coordination
 * expanded Africa-EU energy technology co-operation and transfer
 * climate change a full part of energy development policy

Achievements/milestones

 * Standardisation and integration of energy markets: At the continental level, the AUC and the EU are working on the standardisation and integration of energy markets. At the sub-regional level, the EC is supporting integration of electricity markets in Maghreb countries (MedRing, Mediterranean Solar Plan, Desertec), as well as access to energy services in Sub-Saharan Africa (Felou Hydropower Plant).
 * Improving the business climate for energy investments: The EU - through instruments such as the ACP-EU Energy Facility, the European Development Fund (EDF), the EUEI Partnership Dialogue Facility (PDF), and bilateral instruments - is supporting African countries' efforts to improve the business climate for energy investments, in areas such as development of appropriate tariffs, or regulations on Independent power producers.
 * Improving access to energy: The AUC and the EU are jointly supporting actions in 13 African countries aimed at improving access to energy and benefiting 3 million people. This effort is being extended to include supplying an additional 2.5 million people with sustainable energy services. (EnDev, AEI )
 * Scaling-up investments, mobilising private capital: Significant progress has been made in increasing the funds available for energy infrastructure projects and mobilizing private capital. The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) providing long-term finance for the construction and development of private infrastructure in 47 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The new ACP-EU Energy Facility will focus on renewable energy for access at local level.
 * Renewable energy and energy efficiency: The AUC and the EU are supporting a wide range of actions aimed at increasing the use of renewable sources of energy (solar, hydro, geothermal,…) and improving energy efficiency (Olkaria Geothermal Power Plant, Kenya). The newly established ECOWAS Renewable Energy Centre (http://www.ecreee.org/ ) will also help to advance progress in this area.

Future challenges

 * Current investment in energy production and energy transport infrastructure is inadequate. As a result, investment in energy infrastructure needs to be expanded to meet demand from growing economies and the expansion of energy services to more consumers
 * The energy mix needs to be diversified so as not to become too dependent on fossil fuels that are subject to volatile prices. Using local energy sources, such as renewable energy, should be encouraged
 * Access to modern energy services needs to be stepped up. Demand for energy needs to be met by corresponding investment. There were over 500 million Africans without access to electricity in 2005. This is set to grow as the expansion of energy services is not keeping up with demographic growth
 * Improve economic governance within Africa to create a stable environment where European investment can flourish, for example through public private partnerships
 * Launch the Renewable Energy Co-operation Programme (RECP) in second half of 2010, which will cover the period up to 2020. So far, only a fraction of Africa’s vast renewable energy potential is being used: 7% of hydro and only 1% of the geothermal potential