Mid-term project review (MTR) “Strategic program to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in the electricity sector of São Tomé and Príncipe”

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project "Strategic program to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in the electricity sector of São Tomé and Príncipe" is implemented by UNIDO in partnership with the Directorate-General for Natural Resources and Energy (DGRNE) at the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Environment (MOPIRNA) and in close consultation with other national stakeholders (e.g. DGE/MOPIRNA, NDA, EMAE, AGER, AFAP). 

 

UNIDO supports the Government in its aspirations to create an enabling environment for renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) investments in urban and rural areas. The existing (nearly complete) fossil fuel (import) dependency hampers the socio-economic development of the country and burdens the productivity and competitiveness of key island industries (e.g. agriculture, food processing, fishery, tourism). The experience with RE&EE projects, policies, legislation and incentives is limited. Due to the high political risk and small project-size, financiers and investors are reluctant to invest in projects with long payment periods. The domestic capacities to plan, install and maintain sustainable energy solutions remain weak.

 

The UNIDO project is addressing existing barriers and combines interventions in the areas of policy and regulation, pre-investment support and technology demonstration, knowledge management, as well as qualification and certification. UNIDO supports the Government to develop a coherent vision and road-map on how to achieve SDG-7 by 2030 and relevant secondary legislation. The GEF project focuses on the introduction of new innovative medium-scale RE technologies (e.g. small hydro, grid-connected PV, PV hybrid mini-grids) and EE solutions. Specifically, the project aims to: 

 

a. establish a National Sustainable Energy Platform, which promotes public, private and cross-sectoral coordination on renewable energy and energy efficiency implementation issues; 

b. establish a National Energy Information System; 

c. develop national RE&EE action plans with a feasible scenario by 2030 and 2050; 

d. develop secondary legislation on EE standards for appliances and lighting and RE incentives for utility-scale IPPs, distributed and rural mini-grid systems;  

e. develop a National Sustainable Energy Investment Plan and provide preparatory and facilitation support for RE projects with a total installed electric capacity of 5 MW;

f. create a dedicated national financing facility in support of RE&EE projects and businesses;

g. develop a qualification framework and implement capacity building activities; 

h. promote south-south cooperation on energy issues with other Portuguese speaking small islands and the ECCAS region

 

The GEF project has achieved laudable progress. The staff base in the Ministry was strengthened and the energy information system is under establishment. The National Action Plans for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency are under development and the first RE investment projects are being supported in partnership with DFIs and private investors. First trainings were executed and an online capacity building tool on sustainable energy solutions was developed. First co-funding was raised. Further project information is available at: https://dgrne.org/ and https://open.unido.org/projects/ST/projects/150124. However, some implementation issues were faced due to various reasons, including the COVID-19 health crisis. 

 

In this context, UNIDO seeks external consultancy support to undertake a mid-term project review (MTR) in line with GEF and UNIDO quality, monitoring and evaluation policies. The purpose of the review is to collect inputs for the final phase of implementation and the replication/upscaling of achieved results through new programmatic approaches in the upcoming years. The MTR will also provide valuable input for the final terminal evaluation to be conducted at the end of the project. Further information on the GEF/UNIDO evaluation policies is available in section 9 of this TOR.