Countries

Electricity tariffs rise in São Tomé and Príncipe, decrease in Cape Verde and are among the lowest in Angola.

São Tomé and Príncipe, as part of its presidency of the CPLP, has been promoting an ambitious agenda for cooperation in the energy sector within the CPLP, following up on the theme of the São Tomé Presidency, “Youth and Sustainability in the CPLP”, and taking into account the Declaration of the Presidency of the CPLP, which called for the need to encourage deeper cooperation in the youth, energy and sustainability sectors in our community area.

On 19th June 2024, the DGRNE held a webinar on "Developing regulations and compliance framework for low-emission transport and an electric mobility roadmap for São Tomé and Príncipe". 

The member states of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) have been progressing at different rates in the development and implementation of their energy transition strategies. The multiple contexts and challenges have led to different solutions and approaches to a common struggle: decarbonizing economies more quickly and meeting climate objectives.  

The latest editions of ALER's Market Sheets, now known as ALER Market Outlook, were launched on 27th and 28th May,during the ALER Market Outlook 2024 event. To provide a brief overview of the renewable energy sector in Portuguese-speaking African countries, the ALER Market Outlook condenses all the privileged information that ALER has access to, highlighting the most recent and relevant data for each country.

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, which holds the Presidency of the CPLP, together with the Energy Thematic Committee of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by ALER and RELOP, and with the institutional support of the CPLP, will promote an Energy and Climate Seminars Series to discuss the contribution of climate finance mechanisms to accelerating the energy transition in the CPLP Member States.

On 4th June, ALER and GreenVenture hosted the webinar “Energizing Africa: How EU Financing is Changing the Renewable Landscape?”. The recording of the webinar and the speakers' presentations are now available online on the event page.

The President of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ratified the Agreement for the Establishment of the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), through Presidential Decree no. 11/2024.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) intends to help the government reform the country's entire energy system. Ensuring the financial sustainability of the state electricity company is one of the main priorities.

São Tomé and Príncipe will have a new photovoltaic power station to produce more than 10MW of energy, in a 60.7 million dollar project co-financed by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and Japan.

The international financial institution has around 30 million euros in its portfolio to finance renewable energy production projects in São Tomé and Príncipe.

The United Nations has declared 26th January 2024 the first International Day of Clean Energy and ALER marked the date with the release of the latest data on the incorporation of clean energy in Portuguese-speaking countries.

The latest legislation applicable to the energy sector is now available online at LERenováveis.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global renewable electricity capacity increased by 50% between 2022 and 2023, and the next five years will see the fastest growth ever. However, the lack of funding for emerging and developing economies is a problem.

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) took place between 30 November and 12 December, providing important debates and negotiations. Several co-operation agreements were signed during the COP, reflecting the global commitment to tackling climate challenges.

The UN and São Tome and Príncipe recently signed a new cooperation programme for the years 2023 – 2027, aiming to "build a more inclusive and equitable future for the country".

São Tomé and Príncipe took over the rotating presidency of the CPLP on August 27th, during the XIV Conference of Heads of State and Government. The documents approved for the new presidency, entitled "Youth and Sustainability in the CPLP", are now available for consultation.

The first floating ocean thermal energy conversion platform will be designed in São Tomé and Príncipe. This 1.5 MW unit, called Dominique, is being developed by Global OTEC and is expected to be installed in 2025.

In São Tomé and Príncipe, May was characterised by the three-day workshop for the capacity building of technicians from several state institutions and non-governmental organizations with the aim to prepare an action plan on transparency in Climate Action.

"Lusophone Compact (LC) operates as a framework, a gateway that is always open, for private companies to submit their projects. (...) The Compact creates a privileged space for the development of renewable energy by the private sector in the PALOP."

"It was the purchase of this solar kit that allowed us to open the doors of our restaurant in December. Since then, the solar PV kit has given us enormous satisfaction and so far we have not suffered any inconvenience with the system."

In the week of Women's Day, ALER relaunches a Solidarity Campaign to provide energy to local communities in Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau by promoting projects authored by women entrepreneurs.

The 2022 World Bank Report charts the evolution of energy indicators by country and concludes that sub-Saharan Africa scored highly on electricity access policy.

ALER met with the Minister of Infrastructures, Natural Resources and Environment of São Tomé and Príncipe who reinforced the Government's commitment to renewable energy. On February 8th join us on the webinar "Energy Efficiency, a driving force for energy transition in São Tomé and Príncipe".

Until January 16th, UNIDO is accepting applications for the development of a regulatory, legal and practical framework for reducing non-technical losses from the commercial network and absorbing distributed renewable energy in urban and rural contexts

The "Clean Energy Mini-Grid Policy Development Guide", initially published and developed by UNIDO, ARE and AfDB, has now been translated into Portuguese.

São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola were present at the 5th Assembly of the International Solar Alliance, in New Delhi. The two countries, as ISA members, will have new opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

"We reinforced the activities for which we are already known, positioning ourselves as an active and relevant player in the debate on the energy sector in the Portuguese-speaking countries, a networking facilitator to national/regional/international level and a source of privileged and up-to-date information, developing renewable energies growth in these countries."

UNIDO is recruiting two young professionals from São Tomé and Príncipe to work in the Climate and Energy sectors under the project “Building institutional capacity for an investment program in renewable energy and energy efficiency for São Tomé and Príncipe”.

Isabel Cancela de Abreu, ALER’s Executive Director, gave an interview to Público newspaper in which she explained that African countries “are energy islands, they do not have the interconnections that exist in Europe and, deep down, they are used to fending for themselves”.

The AfDB and the Portuguese Government signed a guarantee agreement to be granted to the African Development Bank under the Lusophone Compact, in which Portugal will provide guarantees of up to 400 million euros exclusively for projects financed by the AfDB and approved under this agreement.

In August, the first photovoltaic powerplant in São Tomé and Príncipe was installed, enabling the production of 540 kW of photovoltaic energy. After the second phase of implementation, EMAE is expected to reduce fuel consumption for electricity production by 10%.

ALER is looking for a Financial and Administrative Manager to take up their duties as soon as possible, preferably in the first half of October.

I realized that in the energy sector women are hardly represented, therefore representation goes to men. We had testimonies from some women who were able to explain how difficult it was for them to integrate in this sector. Often, due to lack of knowledge or motivation, society itself considers that the energy sector is more suitable for men.

The "Microgrid Global Innovation Forum" takes place from September 13th to 15th in London. Use the ALER discount code and enjoy a 20% discount on registration.

New IRENA report, published on July 13th, shows that almost two-thirds of renewable power added in 2021 had lower costs than the cheapest coal-fired options in G20 countries.

In June, ALER was present at the Africa Energy Forum 2022 that took place in Brussels, Belgium, as well as at the Energy Access Investment Forum 2022 event that took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

São Tomé & Príncipe and Global OTEC signed the world's first agreement to develop a PPA for the development and deployment of an OE floating platform.

REN21's 2022 Global Status of Renewable Energy Report states that the global transition to clean energy is not happening. “There was record growth in renewable energy, but the world missed the historic chance to recover clean energy,” the report says.

ALER organized the 4th Edition of ALER Open Day, which followed the ALER General Assembly, in which the Members elected the new members of the governing structure for the 3rd term of the Association.

During the Forum held from 16 to 19 May in Kigali, Rwanda, initiatives amounting to more than US$347 million were presented to support energy access and transition.

Renewable energies are "a fundamental foundation for security and overall improvements in growth and living standards", says David Malpass, President of the World Bank

The General Directorate for Natural Resources and Energy celebrates, from May 23rd to June 5th, the Energy, Geology and Environment Fortnight

Until May 23rd, registration is open for the Online Workshop Training for Trainers: Training Program on Sustainable Energy Solutions for Islands.

"The last four years have been of hard work, with an important progress in the areas of regulation, planning and structuring of the action plans. From now on, the 2022-2030 period should be fulfilled with important milestones (...)"

Between April 9th and 15th, São Tomé and Príncipe hosted the SIDS DOCK delegation to start taking action on ocean energy, in order to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change.

During the month of April, the Women Sustainable Energy Program ended thematic sessions and began the last phase of the project, dedicated to mentoring sessions.

On May 24th, ALER will hold the ALER Open Day, an opportunity to exchange contacts, share and disseminate privileged information with our partners and other members.

Renewable energy continued to expand steadily and well above the long-term trend, with share in total capacity expansion reaching new record of 81% last year.

In the month that marks World Women's Day, ALER gives voice to 13 inspiring women who fight for gender equality in the energy sector.

One of the needs of São Tomé and Príncipe is to acknowledge the current challenges of the energy sector, namely the improvement of the capacities of the institutions technical staff, therefore, a training action began for the technicians from of all institutions linked to the energy sector.

On March 10th at 18:30 (GMT) ALER joins HEDEN Lisbon to talk about energy, women and sustainability.

The National Renewable Energy Action Plan and the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan set goals to ensure the country's energy transition by 2030 and 2050.

The Workshop on Entrepreneurship and Startups in Sustainable Energy will last for two days, and will be dedicated to the planning, management and implementation of projects in Sustainable Energy.

The first two training sessions of the Sustainable Energy Program for Women were dedicated to social media management and personal marketing.

Applications were available until January 31st and 26 were received from Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The workshop took place last january 21th, in the auditorium of the Brazil/S.Tomé Training Center

The meeting took place on November 23rd, organised by the national coordination of the UNIDO project, the DE-DGRNE and the UNIDO central office.

UNIDO, ENERGIA and GWNET came together to hold the side-event "Improving gender equality and women's empowerment to accelerate a fair, inclusive and climate-resilient energy transition"

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe recently announced a partnership with the Global OTEC Program for the development of the country's first Floating Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion platform.

UNIDO supports São Tomé and Príncipe and other CPLP countries in Africa in the translation of the UNIDO Small Hydropower Guidelines and the Clean Energy Mini-Grid Policy Development Guide and Templates from English to Portuguese.

The "Energy Sector Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report for the period 2010-2019" of São Tomé and Príncipe is already available, launched by the General Directorate of Natural Resources and Energy (DGRNE) with the funding of the UK Project through the GEF Fund..  

UNIDO seeks consulting support to develop an implementation and compliance framework for electric appliances, including lighting, air conditioning and refrigeration  until 13 September.

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe expects to launch two national action plans in September 2021 with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). 

GN-SEC and UNIDO, together with other partners, have developed a free Sustainable Energy Solutions Capacity Building Program for Islands, available online and in Portuguese.

The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe is creating mechanisms to promote necessary measures to meet national energy policies with the support of UNIDO.