Renewable Energy Facility for peri-urban and rural areas (EREF)

The ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF) is a grant facility which is managed by the Secretariat of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) based in Praia, Cape Verde.  It provides grant co-funding for small to medium sized renewable energy and energy efficiency (RE&EE) projects and businesses in rural and peri-urban areas. The Facility undertakes regular demand driven call for proposals. During its first phase of operation (2011 to 2016), the EREF will test and sharpen its funding policy and find its comparative advantage in the West African market. In the second phase (2016 to 2020) the EREF will broaden its portfolio of financial instruments and support schemes (e.g. micro credits).

The Facility was established with initial support of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and key technical assistance from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The Facility is open to other donor partners and is seeking further support for future call for proposals. The EREF is part of the annual work plan of ECREEE and fully integrated in its governance structure.

The first Call for Porposals is closed! The technical appraisal of the full proposals was undertaken in accordance with the established evaluation criteria: relevance, impact, effectiveness, feasibility and efficiency, as well as sustainability. We would like to thank all applicants for their submissions. ECREEE intends to support 41 projects (around 25% of the 166 received concept notes) with an overall grant amount of around 1 million Euro. An overview on the approved grants for the individual projects and the final report can be found below.  For questions related to the call please contact the ECREEE Secretariat: [email protected].