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The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) through technical support from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Center (RCC) in Lome, and National experts, has supported the Government of Cabo Verde to update and renew the country’s Grid Emission Factor (GEF) and Standardized Baseline (SB).
Both GEF and SB are particularly beneficial to countries under the UNFCCC. GEF is the measure of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions intensity per unit of electricity generation in a given grid system. Having the GEF (tCO2/MWh) is a prior requirement to determining the emission reductions achieved by a proposed low emissions project connected to the national grid system. The Standardized baselines concept was introduced under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UNFCCCC to simplify the determination of baseline scenario for estimating mitigation outcomes in terms of GHG emission reductions. Both the GEF and SB require intensive processes for data collection, processing, compilation and reporting to aid the following key elements:
- Calculation of GHG emission and their reference levels at a national level;
- Tracking of emission reductions in mitigation actions for inclusion in a registry system and assurance of results through a national verification system;
- Tracking of support required and received, in relation to the relevant mitigation outcome, for inclusion in the registry system and assurance of results through a national verification system, if any;
- Inclusion of all related mitigation results in international reporting, such as the National Communications, international registries, and information hubs as well as associated review processes.
The update of the Cape Verde GEF is timely, as Cape Verde continues to implement further mitigation projects in the power sector as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). The update of the GEF and SB of Cape Verde has been approved by the CDM Executive Board effective from 16 April 2021 and valid till 2024.
The first GEF and SB of Cape Verde was developed in 2016 also with the support of ECREEE. The renewal means that both public and private sector can determine mitigation efforts of clean energy projects and maybe be able to earn carbon emission credits using these tools for estimation. For example, since April 2013, the first wind energy project in Cabo Verde, Cabeólica, is earning what is called Certified Emission Reductions (CER) for the avoided greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The renewal of the Cabo Verde GEF will enable Cabeólica continue receiving carbon credits and sustainable.
The approval of Cabo Verde GEF also coincides with the approval of the new regional grid Emission Factor (GEF) for the interconnected power system within the ECOWAS region. The regional GEF for the covers most countries connected to the West African power pool (WAPP).This supports ECOWAS countries in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
This activity is part of ECREEEE support to countries on Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) institutional setup. ECREEE will continue to support countries to establish robust MRV systems for Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in the energy sector by strengthening the institutional structures/arrangements, providing capacity building and technical assistance support.
For more information on both Grid emission factor methodology reports. See below for
Cabo Verde
- The approved standardized baseline “ASB0052-2021: Grid emission factor for Cabo Verde (version 01.0) is available at the following CDM website:
https://cdm.unfccc.int/methodologies/standard_base/2015/sb171.html
ECOWAS WAPP
- The approved standardized baseline “ASB0034-2021: Grid emission factor for West African Power Pool (version 01.0) is also available at the following CDM website:
https://cdm.unfccc.int/methodologies/standard_base/2015/sb166.html