The SEMED Private Renewable Energy Framework (SPREF), a €227.5 million financing framework, was presented during the EU Energy Day at the COP22 international climate conference in Marrakesh.
Mobilise up to €834 million
The programme will help the region reduce its heavy dependence on imports of hydrocarbons. It aims to mobilise additional investment from other parties, including the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), of up to €834 million. Financing will be accompanied by targeted technical cooperation support for the implementation of renewable energy projects in the region that aim to avoid 780,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Regional Dialogue Platform
SPREF falls under the umbrella of the UfM Regional Dialogue Platform on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, launched today with the aim of promoting the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in energy generation, transmission, distribution and end use. This platform will foster sustainable socio-economic development, promote job creation, and help ensure that all consumers and industries in the region have access to secure, affordable and reliable energy services. It will also support energy efficient economies and mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Europe and the Mediterranean region. This initiative follows the launch earlier in 2016 of the UfM Regional Electricity Market Platform and the UfM Gas Platform.
Investments of over €1 billion
EBRD Director of Power and Energy Utilities, Nandita Parshard, said: “The EBRD has placed a priority on climate finance in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, where we have invested in 44 green projects worth over €1 billion since 2012. Green investments account for roughly one-third of the EBRD’s total investments in the region, and we hope that will continue to grow.” (HCN)
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