AN HISTORIC STEP TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE

Praia - February 8^th, 2019 – The Prime-Minister of the Republic of Cabo Verde, the Executive Director of ECREEE and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Luxembourg, inaugurate the debut of the first seven vehicles 100% electric in Cabo Verde. This was the beginning of a process, which according to the Government of Cabo Verde, will culminate in the next decades by achieving the goal of phasing out the use of fossil-fuel based vehicles.

The Government of Cabo Verde has embarked in a sustainable energy promotion initiative by adding to its portfolio the acquisition and use of electric cars. In a ceremony in Praia, the Prime-Minister of Cabo Verde, H.E. Ulisses Correia e Silva, stressed on fact that the world faces a critical situation of possible exhaustion of raw materials, and therefore, there is an urgent need to explore alternative energy sources to meet growing human needs. “Hence, this is an era which requires clarity in the definition of objectives and, above all, strategic leadership”, he said.

The Executive Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Mahama Kappiah, emphasized that due to the mandate of the Centre to promote sustainable energy markets in West Africa, ECREEE had to embrace and be part of such remarkable milestone of developing this E-mobility pilot project.

The Director also mentioned that ECREEE acquired the electric car under the project of Improving Governance in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency sector in West Africa (AGoSEREE-AO) funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  Such project, implemented by ECREEE with the support of GIZ, aims at improving the administration in the aforementioned sector through at the national and regional levels, by providing technical assistance for initiatives to improve access to modern energy and promote RE projects and EE for public and private sector actors in the 15 ECOWAS countries and Mauritania. 

The activities undertaken under the program, contribute directly to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7, which seeks to ensure “universal access to reliable and sustainable energy services for all”, and Goal 13 – which seeks to combat climate change and its ramifications.

The use of electric cars will reinforce ECREEE’s efforts in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency while alleviating the effects of climate change. 

In parallel with the acquisition of the vehicle, ECREEE, with the support of GIZ, is building a carport with rooftop solar PV, which will power a charging station for electric vehicles. The charging station will optimise the charge from the solar PV system, hence increasing the environmental sustainability of the project. ECREEE’s “clean energy carport” will be the first of its kind in Praia.