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The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Energy of Cape Verde and CABEOLICA jointly organized a regional workshop on wind power development in the ECOWAS region under the umbrella of the GEF Strategic Programme for West Africa (GEF-SPWA).
The five-day workshop was held from 4 to 8 of November 2013, at the National Assembly and the Praia Mar Hotel, in Praia, Cape Verde. The event featured a two-day forum on the market perspectives for large and small scale wind power technologies and a three-day training on wind power project development.
The workshop followed-up on the implementation of the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy (EREP) which was approved by the 43rd Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abuja, Nigeria in July 2013. The policy foresees to increase the grid-connected wind power capacity in the ECOWAS region to 318 MW by 2020 and 993 MW by 2030.
In the ECOWAS region so far only Cape Verde is taking advantage of its technical and economic feasible wind power potential. Since 2010 five wind farms with a total electric capacity of 25.5 MW are operating on five islands. Moreover, the country has a long tradition of wind powered water pumping systems for productive uses. The ECREEE wind power assessment identified further attractive grid-connected wind sites in Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso. The GIS based wind assessment is available at the ECOWAS Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (www.ecowrex.org).
More than hundred participants from West Africa and international organizations attended the workshop, including policy makers, utilities, practitioners, equipment manufacturers, as well as financiers and bankers. The workshop produced a regional action plan for the development of the unexploited wind power potentials. During the training the participants were introduced to wind power planning tools WindPRO and WAsP.
Further information is available at: http://www.ecreee.org/event/ecowas-wind-energy-workshop