The ECOWAS region has abundant renewable energy sources but so far not fully exploited. Ironically the region has one of the lowest energy consumption rates in the world. Rural areas rely mainly on traditional biomass to meet their energy requirements and household access to electricity services is only about 20%. This means that renewable energy must play an important role addressing the energy challenges in the region and Clean Energy Mini-Grids (CEMGs), will be one of the approaches taken to improve rural electrification, which is estimated to cater for 25% of the rural population by 2030.
Hence, the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in collaboration with the University of Oldenburg (European Master in Renewable Energy Program) had the pleasure to release at the High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the report entitled: “Mapping and assessment of existing clean energy mini-grid experiences in West Africa.”
The report aims at closing the wide gap in terms of information and analysis of field experiences. The report also provides orientation on the right financial schemes, management models and technology which are key elements in having sustainable solutions. The extracted information is to be used to build the capacities of policy and decision makers, project promoters and investors to improve the enabling environment in order to accelerate CEMG investments in ECOWAS member states.
