Dr. Steffen Erdle, Head of Project RE-ACTIVATE

Transcript:Dr. Steffen Erdle, Head of Project RE-ACTIVATE:
Dr. Steffen Erdle, Head of Project RE-ACTIVATE RE/EE Benefits Workshop Cairo, 31 May 2016 Co-Organized by RCREEE and RE-ACTIVATE Emerging Markets for Labor-Intensive RE/EE Applications in MENA Countries: Some Examples and Insights from the Agricultural and Food Sector The RE-ACTIVATE Project in a Nutshell RE/EE Benefits Workshop Cairo 05/06/2016 Cross-sectoral regional project focusing on the nexus between Sustainable energy (renewable energy & energy efficiency) Socio-economic development (local jobs & value creation) Qualitative multi-level approach aiming to support market development for employment-intensive applications in the MENA region: Knowhow transfer/policy dialogue/networking at the regional level Support measures/capacity building/pilot projects in focus countries Network structure with teams in Rabat, Tunis, Cairo, and Bonn Duration: 4 years (2014 – 2017), budget: 5 million EUR RE/EE in Agriculture: Strengths & Opportunities RE/EE Benefits Workshop Cairo 05/06/2016 Still important role for MENA economies, in this case MAR and TUN: AGR as a source of employment, IAA as a source of export revenue Main, sometimes only source of income creation in rural areas Overall declining or stagnating contribution because of major structural problems (AGR): weak productivity, climate impacts, water scarcity… Strong seasonality and heterogeneity of activities within the sector Certain bipolarization: many small, under-equipped farms supplying local markets vs. large, modern farms geared toward export markets Problematic role of state policy: subsidizing natural inputs, obstructing competition, instead of facilitating access to knowhow and finance and helping to create a modern infrastructure (transport, storage, cooling…) RE/EE in Agriculture: Strengths & Opportunities RE/EE Benefits Workshop Cairo 05/06/2016 Weak and medium share of AGR and IAA respectively in final energy consumption, mostly for fossil motion fuels (for transport, processing, pumping…) and for electricity (for heating, cooling, lighting...) Large market potential due to recent cutbacks of fossil subsidies (esp. Diesel) for agricultural applications and because of the high (and growing) importance of hydraulic irrigation systems Many applications (equipment for pumping, cooling/heating, lighting, processing, sterilization…) are overdimensioned and often outdated and need to be replaced in any way in the near future High costs for many conventional energy services (for grid connection, fuel delivery, spare parts, customer services…) in remote and/or dispersed areas borne by the state of by end consumers RE/EE in Agriculture: Strengths & Opportunities RE/EE Benefits Workshop Cairo 05/06/2016 Opportunities for creating (or maintaining) local value, income and jobs in underprivileged/remote areas which are exposed to generally less friendly conditions and difficult to service from the main urban centers