Delegates from Arizona Public Service (APS) traveled to Amman, Jordan to meet with their counterparts at the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) of Jordan. Ross Hagan, Director, Energy Office, USAID/Jordan welcomed the delegation and made opening remarks to commence the second executive exchange visit for NEPCO. The exchange visit was conducted October 3-11, 2009 in Amman, Jordan, was aimed at improving transmission system reliability, improving transmission system planning and operations, and accelerating the integration of renewable energy into Jordan’s transmission grid.
USAID initiated the new Afghanistan Clean Energy Program (ACEP) in October 2009. ACEP will focus on off-grid renewable energy generation, demand side management and energy efficiency. The program will provide technical assistance to Afghanistan policy-makers seeking to promote alternative renewable energy such as micro-hydro, solar and wind energy.
The USAID Energy Team responded to a request by the USAID Senegal mission to assist its education program. USAID/Senegal is supporting the Government of Senegal to construct new middle schools around the country, and some of the sites are not currently connected to an electric grid. USAID/Senegal seeks a strategy on how to meet the energy needs of these schools, in order to ensure a quality education for students and inform future USAID programming in the education sector. Energy Team staff, together with a local and international expert on renewable energy, conducted a two-week assessment trip to collect data and provide recommendations.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan took a critical step to establish the new national electricity corporation, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), laying the foundation for commercialization in the country’s energy sector that will lead to improved services for the Afghan people. DABS is owned by the Government of Afghanistan, but will introduce private-sector practices into its business operations, such as setting new salary rates for employees and more efficient billing and collection practices.
Graduates of Kabul Polytechnic University now have the opportunity to become better energy-sector engineers thanks to an innovative new two-year training program. Through classroom and on-the-job training in Afghanistan and India, participants will gain the skills and practical knowledge necessary to become skilled utility engineers able to operate and maintain Afghanistan’s power sector infrastructure.
The U.S. Agency for International Development contributed $6 million to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) trust fund facility, administered by the World Bank. The EITI trust fund facility helps countries with technical and capacity building assistance to implement principles of resource revenue transparency. The initiative calls for public disclosure and verification of oil, gas, and mining company payments to host governments and disclosure of the host government's revenue from industry.
The Energy Conservation and Commercialization (ECO) Program was signed between the Government of India (GOI) and USAID in January 2000 under a bilateral agreement with the objective to enhance commercial viability and performance of Indian energy sector and to promote utilization of clean and energy-efficient technologies in the sector.
President Hamid Karzai opened the first 35 MW block of a 100 MW diesel power plant in Kabul on August 5, significantly expanding power to the capital and surrounding area. Minister of Energy and Water Ismail Khan and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry also attended the ceremony. The U.S. Government-funded Tarakhil Power Plant will provide power to approximately 200,000 residents in Kabul in its first phase. When finished later this year, the plant will provide power to more than half a million people.
Opportunities to finance clean energy projects drew more than 100 industry experts and investors to the Indonesia Clean Energy Investor Forum held in Jakarta in June 2009. The forum showcased projects from a competition sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Private Finance Advisory Network (PFAN). PFAN is a multi-lateral public-private partnership that was established by the International Energy Agency's Climate Technology Initiative and is managed by USAID in Asia.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Midland Refineries Co. opened an Information Technology (IT) Training Center at Daura Refinery today aimed at strengthening the management skills of professionals in the energy sector.
On March 11, Albania’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Energy, Genc Ruli and CEZ representative, signed a $102 million strategic partnership agreement, privatizing 76 percent of the shares of Albania’s energy distributor, OSSH. USAID provided technical assistance to the Government of Albania, particularly on the key regulations that will govern the new system.
Sri Lanka will host the first energy efficient lighting Center of Excellence in South Asia, thanks to funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Regional Center for Energy Efficient Lighting (RCEEL) will serve as a research hub to develop new lighting technology to be used in Sri Lanka and South Asia. The Sri Lanka-based center will bring public and private enterprises together to focus on energy efficient lighting that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, be more cost-effective, increase consumer accessibility to energy, and promote energy efficiency throughout the region.
Ten years ago most urban Vietnamese rode bicycles, but over the last decade rapid industrialization has contributed to a sharp rise in the use of motorized vehicles. These vehicles create emissions containing lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone and fine particulate matter — and cause significant health impacts. In 2001, USAID began working with the Ministry of Transportation to improve urban air quality. The government formed a partnership with the private sector and, in less than a year, had phased out leaded gas nationwide. The phase-out of leaded gasoline has reduced lead exposure for millions of city dwellers — particularly the poor, who tend to live along congested roads.
Krishnappa is a small farmer in a rural district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. He received assistance from a USAID-supported program to switch 3.25 acres of his 6.5 acre plot from flood irrigation to drip irrigation. This improvement reduced the use of his electric water pump from 84 hours to 25 hours a week.
Liberians who live, study, or work outside the limited electric grid of the capital, Monrovia, do not have affordable, reliable light. Less than two percent of rural areas and about ten percent of the urban capital area have modern energy sources. Renewable energy is emerging to fill the need for power, allowing the rebuilding country to leapfrog over polluting fuels into “green” energy using the country’s abundance of sun and water.
In Paraísopolis, the second largest ‘favela’ (slum) in São Paulo, almost all the households and businesses had illegal electricity connections, were exposed to dangerous network and wiring conditions and did not pay for service. Households and businesses consumed high amounts of electricity – on average 325 kWh/ month – due to the very poor condition of household appliances and electrical equipment and a lack of price signal to encourage consumers to use electricity wisely. In late 2006, USAID, the International Copper Association (ICA), and AES Eletropaulo, the electricity distribution company serving São Paulo, embarked as partners on an ambitious project in São Paulo, Brazil to test an integrated approach to slum electrification and loss reduction. This project aimed to reduce electricity losses from theft and non-payment while bringing more reliable and safer electricity service to its residents and dramatically reducing their electricity consumption to affordable levels.
PoweringHealth.org is a web based resource designed by USAID’s Energy Team with the objective of disseminating information and best practices on the provision of reliable energy services to developing country health facilities.
Over the years, significant effort and funds have been dedicated to providing energy services to rural health facilities – with a particular focus on expanding the vaccination cold chain. The global push to deliver antiretroviral drugs and services to HIV-positive patients worldwide, have introduced new demands for electricity in health facilities with little or no access to reliable power.
Some Harvard Business School students now have the opportunity to volunteer as unpaid consultants at USAID offices around the world during their winter break.
More than 100 Harvard students applied for 11 available slots in a program developed by the Agency’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade.
Energy is a need. Somehow, it has everything to do with all the other sectors. The environment is in trouble because of energy. Everything else, from the health of the ordinary man to the pesewa he can earn, all depend, in a very mysterious way, on energy.
There have been discussions about hydro, nuclear, solar, wind and oil & gas as sources of energy. Seldom does anyone mention biomass which includes wood fuel. The Kumasi Institute of Energy Technology and Environment is one organisation that seeks to address the issue of biomass. Its Director, Mrs. Harriette Amissah-Arthur, laments that the nation has not paid proper attention to biomass.
The World Bank, acting as administrator for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), has just approved a grant for US$1.65 million to subsidize part of the costs of electricity connection and wiring for inhabitants of the Shivajinagar slum in Mumbai.
Up to 26,000 slum households or approximately 104,000 slum dwellers are expected to eventually benefit from the scheme, either through new electricity connections or regularization of existing connections.
On April 6, electricity flowed for the first time in Dodarak village in Nangarhar Province. Supplied by a new 60 KWH micro-hydropower plant funded by USAID, the electricity will improve the villagers’ quality of life and open the door for new business opportunities. Currently, the plant provides 1,200 residents with electricity, allows local shops to sell cold food and drinks, and has the capacity to serve 600 additional households in neighboring villages.
The USAID-funded National Capacity Development program, locally known as “Tatweer,” brought together 22 MoO and 14 MoE managers from Baghdad, Basra, Babil, Mosul, Kirkuk and Diwaniyah provinces. The six-month Program Manager Cycle (PMC) training was the latest in a series of programs to modernize the skills of public officials and encourage cooperation between the ministries in an effort to improve delivery of services to the Iraqi people.
The lack of access to clean energy – and often energy in any form – makes life extraordinarily difficult for many women in South Asia. Household chores become far more labor-intensive, taking time from women that could be better spent on family life or income-generating activities. And daughters may be taken out of school to help their mothers with chores, virtually guaranteeing the perpetuation of poverty for future generations of women.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) South Asia Regional Initiative/Energy (SARI/Energy) program is working to change this situation through its South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE) activity. Formed in April 2008, SAWIE brings together women energy sector professionals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to understand, identify and develop sustainable approaches to providing low-cost efficient energy to poor women and men in rural and urban areas throughout the region.
Energy conservation efforts are expanding in Pakistan, resulting in the promotion of energy audits for commercial enterprises, consumer awareness campaigns to highlight the importance of efficiency in household appliances, the introduction of low-energy applications in new building construction, and renewed attention to power losses between transformers and household connections. Recurring power shortages have made energy conservation increasingly important. Some estimates indicate that 1,500 megawatts per year could be saved with an effective national campaign.
Empowering Agriculture: Energy Options for Horticulture is a guidebook developed to assist USAID, its partners, and the developing country clients whom they serve with practical, application-specific information about energy supply options and ways to improve energy efficiency in horticulture operations.
Powering Tourism provides information to help tourism professionals understand and evaluate the range of options for meeting their off-grid energy needs, highlighting efficient and sustainable use of energy. The guide provides a seven-step approach to guide the reader through the process of creating a reliable and affordable energy system by working with staff and visitors, equipment vendors, installers, financial institutions, and energy service providers. Powering Tourism illustrates each step through hypothetical and real life case studies.
Most rural indigenous people of Latin America live in poverty in communities that rely heavily on biomass and other solid fuels for cooking and heating. Communities at higher elevations in particular are often exposed to severe levels of indoor smoke from inefficient burning of fuels in open fires or rudimentary stoves in poorly ventilated spaces. Exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) poses a serious health risk of respiratory infection, causing illness and even death for those who spend the most time in the home cooking environment, namely women and children.
Afghanistan Launches New National Electric Utility Corporation
“The creation of this new electrical utility corporation demonstrates the Afghan Government’s continued commitment to provide electricity, an essential public service, in a way that will improve the lives and prosperity of the people of this great country.” – Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan took a critical step to establish the new national electricity corporation, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), laying the foundation for commercialization in the country’s energy sector that will lead to improved services for the Afghan people. DABS is owned by the Government of Afghanistan, but will introduce private-sector practices into its business operations, such as setting new salary rates for employees and more efficient billing and collection practices.
The United States, the World Bank and other international donors have worked closely with Afghanistan’s government to establish the new public company as a commercialized, public entity that will be able to help further increase the amounts of electricity available for Afghans’ houses and businesses.
The U.S. Government, through USAID, has invested $4 million in DABS to date and pledged another $40 million over the next two years as part of its overall $1.7 billion energy sector program in Afghanistan.
Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammad Jalil Shams, Minister of Economy, Mohammad Ismael Khan, Minister of Energy and Water, and Yousef Pashtun, Minister of Urban Development attended the ceremony at the Finance Ministry. Craig Steffensen, the Country Director of the Asian Development Bank, Paul Edwin Sisk, Acting Country Manager for the World Bank, and representatives of other international donors also participated in the ceremony.
“The Afghan Government’s decision to create this new utility is an important sign that it is moving ahead with needed reforms that will benefit the Afghan people,” said Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne, Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy.
“Energy is essential to a country’s development. Enhanced access to energy stimulates economic growth, provides social opportunities, and improves the quality of life,” the Ambassador added.
The DABS is another step in Afghanistan’s efforts to overhaul the energy sector and implement projects that will provide more and cheaper electricity to the people of Afghanistan.
