EU dedicates €300 Million to 19 African renewable energy projects

As part of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, the European Commission will dedicate €300 million ($316 million) for the development of 19 new renewable energy projects in Africa.

The EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, announced this week that the preparation of the 19 renewable energy projects will require a total investment of €4.8 billion ($5.1 billion).

It is hoped that the initial sum of €300 million invested by the Commission will trigger further investments amounting to the full €4.8 billion.

The projects are expected to deliver a total of 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity in Africa.

Commissioner Mimica said: "With these 19 new projects, potentially worth €4.8 billion of investments, the European Union is delivering on its promises. We are turning our pledges into real projects with true impact on the ground. The EU hereby reaffirms its leading role in supporting the African continent in the promotion of renewable energies for the improvement of energy access for African citizens."

The €300 million will contribute towards the European Commission's mission to give 30 million more people access to sustainable energy, to save 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, and to help generate 5 GW of new renewable energy in Africa.

The Commission’s target for renewable energy in Africa represents half of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative's overall target to generate 10 GW of new renewable energy in Africa by 2020, in addition to unlocking Africa's potential to generate as much as 300 GW from renewable energy by 2030.

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Image source: Kashif Pathan/Flickr