LABELING PROCESS

  • From labelling to adoption

    All of the following conditions are required for a project to qualify for the AREI label and to be considered for the AREI Trust Fund:

    Prerequisites :

    • Location: the project must take place in Africa and must take into account the priorities of the country or region concerned or those of the continent and must not be objected to by other affected and concerned countries, especially when the project in question has a cross-border scope.

    • Purpose: the public utility of the project for populations without access to energy must be clearly defined and proven.

    • Technology: the project must explicitly emphasize renewable energy sources and cannot promote fossil fuels or nuclear energy.

    • Socio-economic and environmental impacts: The internationally accepted social and environmental safeguards recommended by AREI must have been successfully implemented and accompanied by a rigorous and participatory analysis of potential negative impacts that concludes that these are minimal or non-existent. The communities and countries affected by the project are free to give their prior informed consent and have the opportunity to participate in the project from the preparation phase through implementation.

    • Strategic Impacts: The policy development project or strategic program should be based on stakeholder engagement and include socio-economic, environmental, and gender impacts and development.

    • Additional character: the policy development project or program or incentive must be implemented through effort.

    Indicators and criteria for selecting and prioritizing proposals

    The criteria for reviewing project and program proposals for policy development and incentives are presented in Annex 1. They are supplemented by a set of indicators to be reviewed and refined by Member States, the Technical Committee and the Independent Delivery Unit.

    They will serve as the basis for assessing whether projects or programs are eligible for financial support and for prioritizing financial support from the AREI Trust Fund.
    Criteria for the selection and funding of AREI-labeled renewable energy projects

    The following criteria should be used to select (i.e., label) and prioritize projects for AREI financial support.

    All of the above conditions are required for a project to qualify for the AREI label and to be considered for AREI Trust Fund eligibility:
    Location: the project must take place in Africa and must follow the LABELING to ADOPTION process

  • Description of the options for awarding AREI financial assistance



    • Definitions. A policy development project [1] is any intervention in governance that shows a clear beginning, development and end. Support for policy and incentive programs refers to the implementation and funding of policy frameworks that have already been developed, such as incentive systems, feed-in tariffs, and ongoing capacity building activities. According to the RINA criteria, to be successful, a policy project, program or incentive must be holistic in its approach and contribute to the objectives and desired outcomes of Work Areas 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 (and more than one of them) of the Action Plan.

    • Types. Policy development projects, strategic programs, and incentives that may be selected and financially supported by AREI must include at least one of the following policy types (and must range from the design and development phases to the implementation phase):

    • Economic instruments: incentives, risk mitigation measures such as guarantees and feed-in tariffs, reorganization of subsidies, public procurement, etc. [2]

    • Regulatory and legal instruments [3]

    • Capacity building [4]

    • Information and education [5]

    • Public funding for research, development and deployment of relevant technologies [6]

    • Ecological impact, technology and risk assessments, gender equality policies, social and environmental safeguards and public participation [7]

    Coordination of ongoing and planned renewable energy projects

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    [1] Source: International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) database under "Policies and Measures":
    http://www.iea.org/policiesandmeasures/renewableenergy/
    [2] Including: development and implementation of public procurement rules for investment, fiscal and financial incentives (e.g., development and implementation of feed-in tariffs/guarantees/bonuses), risk mitigation projects, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in favor of clean energy subsidies.
    [3] Including: codes and standards (construction, product and sector), bonding regime, and other mandatory standards, policies that specifically set out approval procedures and property rights.
    [4] Including: training for professionals, strategic planning and project preparation mechanisms.
    [5] Including: information dissemination, awareness campaigns.
    [6] Including: studies on innovation systems and transition, scenario studies, studies on relevant technology transfer.
    [7] Including: IEA policies, technology assessment platforms.

  • Use of funds by phase of the policy development project

    Policy development projects/programs meeting AREI criteria may receive financial support to cover one or more of the following project phases:

    • Development phase (including preparation phase): situation assessments, policy analyses and impact studies, policy formulation process (including legal drafting), legal drafting, implementation/management cost-benefit analyses, etc.

    • Implementation phase: direct financing of incentives, feed-in and tariff guarantees (feed-in tariff measures), subsidies, institutional and programmatic/policy-based capacity building and mobilization, etc.

    • Monitoring and evaluation phase: Design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation studies and feedback systems, etc.