MEDiterranean DEvelopment of Support schemes for solar Initiatives and Renewable Energies Sviluppato nell’ambito del Programma di Cooperazione Territoriale Europea CBC Enpi - Bacino del Mediterraneo, il progetto mira a diffondere l’efficienza energetica e, in particolar modo, l’energia solare in tutta l’area del Mediterraneo, attraverso lo studio di piani di finanziamento innovativi e di strumenti d’incentivazione del mercato.

1. newsletter #01
February 2014
MED-DESIRE
MEDiterranean DEvelopment of Support schemes for solar Initiatives and Renewable Energies
ENPI CBC MED - Priority 2 - Topic 3 - Solar energy
a very warm welcome to the first newsletter of MED-DESIRE, the project funded by the European Union under the ENPI CBC
Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme aiming at supporting the take up of solar technologies and the improvement of energy
efficiency across the Mediterranean area.
The MED-DESIRE newsletter will introduce you to the activities, the relevant advances and the partnership of the project: in detail,
each issue will contain an editorial including a brief focus or an interview on topics related to the sustainable energy and solar
technologies in the different partner regions, a column devoted to the developments of the project, a column concerning the project
capitalization activities, a focus on MED-DESIRE partners presentation and the current energy situation in their own countries,
useful links and news.
This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union under the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme. The contents of this
document are the sole responsibility of Puglia Region/ARTI and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or of the Programme’s
management structures.
The 2007-2013 ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme is a multilateral Cross-Border Cooperation initiative funded by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument (ENPI). The Programme objective is to promote the sustainable and harmonious cooperation process at the Mediterranean Basin level by dealing with the
commonchallengesandenhancingitsendogenouspotential.Itfinancescooperationprojectsasacontributiontotheeconomic,social,environmentalandculturaldevelopment
of the Mediterranean region. The following 14 countries participate in the Programme: Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Palestinian
Authority, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia. The Joint Managing Authority (JMA) is the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Italy). Official Programme languages are Arabic,
English and French.
The project MED-DESIRE is implemented under the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme (www.enpicbcmed.eu). Its total budget is 4.470.463,70 Euro and it
is financed, for an amount of 4.023.417,24 Euro, by the European Union through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. The ENPI CBC Med Programme
aims at reinforcing cooperation between the European Union and partner countries regions placed along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Puglia regulation
on solar energy
and energy efficiency
Puglia Region has intensively legislated in the regulation of photovoltaic energy (PV) and energy efficiency (EE) and can be
considered one of the Italian administrations that have better exploited the opportunities connected with the regional regulation
in the energy field.
In the last few years Puglia reached a national leadership in photovoltaic energy: since 2006 there has been a significant growth
of PV electric production, that increased of +66% between 2012 and 2013. This was the result of favourable climatic and market
conditions and of a long administrative and political commitment. Milestones of this process are the Regional Environmental
Energy Plan of 2007 and several specific laws and regulations that, on one side, allowed the simplification of the PV plants
authorization procedures, compared with the national ones, and, on the other hand, established more pressing limits for the
protection of the landscape.
Concerning energy efficiency, the recent regional regulation on the Energy Performance Certification (EPC) of buildings is
a very innovative one. It promotes not only energy savings, the use of local materials and innovative technologies, but it also
sustains the minimization of other resource consumption (soil, water, materials, etc.), to improve both energy efficiency of the
building and the sustainability of the intervention.
In the coming years, the main tasks of Puglia administration will be to increase energy efficiency in the private and public sector
and to promote the setting up of small solar thermal plants for supporting the process of transition towards a more sustainable
energy profile of its territory and for contributing to achieve national and European “20-20-20” targets.
Editorial
The project in brief
Solar technology markets have experienced a steady growth in the last decade on the Northern shore of the Mediterranean basin,
while the situation is still at a premature stage in Southern Partner Countries. Notwithstanding the shared political commitment
and a common recognition of the huge solar potential of the Mediterranean region, some barriers to solar energy deployment and
diffusion persist. These include, among others, weak institutional frameworks, lack of competence of energy practitioners, need
of dedicated financial instruments, inadequate perception on the benefits of solar energy investments, subsidized prices of
electricity produced by fossil fuel plants and technical issues (such as the quality of equipment and installations). The MED-DESIRE
project’s main priority is to achieve tangible results on these challenges, removing barriers related to the legal, regulatory, economic
and organizational framework of distributed solar energy technologies.
The partnership of this 35-months long strategic project is composed by nine members from five countries, including three Italian
partners, Puglia Region - Economic Development, Employment and Innovation Policy Area - Regional Ministry for Economic
Development - Industrial Research and Innovation Department (lead partner) and ARTI, the Apulia Regional Agency for
Technology and Innovation (co-actuator of the project), the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea and the
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA); three Spanish
partners, the Andalusian Energy Agency (AAE), the Andalusian Institute of Technology (IAT) and the Center of Energetic,
Environmental And Technological Investigations - Solar Platform of Almeria (CIEMAT); the Tunisian National Agency for
Energy Conservation (ANME); the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC); the Egyptian New and Renewable
Energy Authority (NREA).
Update on MED-DESIRE project
The second project meeting
The second MED-DESIRE project meeting took place in Tunis on November 18 and 19, 2013 and was organized by the Tunisian
National Agency for Energy Conservation - ANME, in collaboration with the Project Coordinator. The Technical & Scientific
Committee was mainly devoted to share the status of activities of the different work packages and to program the next steps. A
particular attention was given to the state of the art analysis of solar potential and policies, which is going to be concluded in the
next few months. A specific focus was also devoted to the financial aspects, in view of the coming deadline of the first project
year. The Steering Committee allowed completing a review of the work done by each project partner in the first project year, the
difficulties faced, problems encountered and level of actual and forecasted expenditures. The meeting was concluded by a round
table in which the next implementation steps were discussed and agreed.
ENPI solar projects
coordination meeting
in Beirut
On April 29, 2013 a meeting was held at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut aiming to the active coordination between
ENPI CBC MED Solar Energy Projects in Lebanon.
In addition to the representative of the Project Administration Office at the Lebanese Republic - Presidency of the Council of
Ministers, the meeting was attended by representatives of the following ENPI projects: SHAAMS, MED-SOLAR, MED-DESIRE,
FOSTEr in MED. The participants went through the keywords in each project and presented their similarities stressing that
cooperation and information sharing is well needed.
All participants presented their engagement in cooperating on making these projects a success and agreed on sharing four
important data: pool of stakeholders/experts, legislations and policies, studies, dates of the events.
The participants also agreed on the need to avoid overlapping activities, on the possibility of having the workshops for all projects
in one event for maximum impact, on the need to market each other’s projects, e.g. mentioning all projects in the respective
newsletters and websites, and mainly on the need for periodic meetings (steering committee), and the assignment of one focal
point per project.
A second coordination meeting is being planned.
Capitalization activities
The kick-off meeting
The kick-off meeting was organized in Rome on the 10th and 11th of June 2013 and allowed the partners to better know each
other and to discuss the main items related to the concrete start up of the project management structure and procedures. This
task was made easier by the presence of representatives of the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) of the ENPI CBC Mediterranean
Sea Basin Programme, who highlighted the major contractual, monitoring and reporting obligations.
The meeting was also an occasion for sharing a more detailed planning of the technical work packages, in particular those related
to: the state of the art analysis of the solar potential and support policies in the project area; the lowering of technical barriers
impeding the take up of local solar markets; the development of innovative financial schemes and market stimulation tools.
ENPI CBC-MED
Capitalization Event
in Amman
On October 29, 2013 the MED-DESIRE project participated in the Capitalization Event, organized by the ENPI CBC MED Joint
Managing Authority in Amman (Jordan) in order to gather, analyse and share emerging good practices and lessons learnt from
the implementation of all ENPI CBC MED projects. In particular, the Amman meeting was devoted to the projects in the
“Environmental Challenges” cluster and MED-DESIRE project participated to the “Renewable Energy” discussion group.
The purpose of the meeting was twofold: on the one hand, allowing the projects in the same subgroup to share information about
their goals and main activities, also by presenting one “good practice” and “challenge” per project; on the other hand, discussing
about the relevance of the five Medium Term Needs that were considered most relevant by the majority of the ENPI CBC MED
projects.
The Lead Beneficiary (Puglia Region), ENEA(the Italian NationalAgency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic
Development) and LCEC (the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation) represented the MED-DESIRE project at the meeting.
Among the different solar projects, the ENPI Strategic project SHAAMS (Strategic Hubs for the Analysis and Acceleration of the
Mediterranean Solar Sector) clearly showed a large potential for synergy and collaboration with MED-DESIRE, because both
projects envisage the delivery of policy recommendations, the creation and promotion of funding mechanisms, the development
of training and capacity building initiatives.
The key good practice identified by MED-DESIRE is the creation of a common certification scheme that allows the growing of
a common solar market, while the main challenge is that of finding effective financial mechanisms at national and local level for
promoting solar technologies.
ENPI CBC MED
Networking Event
in Barcelona
MED-DESIRE took part in the ENPI Networking event organized by the Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce
(ASCAME) - GMI project on November 22, 2013 in Barcelona. With over 50 participants, this event aimed at creating synergies
and encouraging exchange of experience among 15 projects funded by the ENPI CBC Med Programme (MedDiet, MEET, I AM,
UMAYYAD, MARE NOSTRUM, MED-JELLYRISK, GMI, MED-3R, SCOW, MED-Solar, SHAAMS, MED-DESIRE, FOSTEr in
MED, DIDSOLIT-PB).
The projects were presented highlighting the outputs and upcoming events where collaboration with other initiatives could be
useful. Eva Pérez (IAT) represented MED-DESIRE and participated in the round table on Creating Synergies among projects.
Among the key conclusions was the importance of engaging stakeholders in the promotion and dissemination of the projects, so
astofosterthesustainabilityofachievedresultsandensurethatconcernedactorsaremadeawareofvaluabletools,methodologies
or approaches developed.
Renewable energy
and energy efficiency
in Lebanon
While the short term objectives set by the government of Lebanon for the year 2020 are a share of 12% of renewable energy
(RE) in the Lebanese energy supply and a reduction in the demand growth of 5% of the total demand, the vision of LCEC extends
to the creation of an evolving and self-sustaining programme. This is achieved through the creation of markets for the energy
service companies and the implementation of hundreds of RE projects: solar water heater and photovoltaic, wind energy, sustaining
these markets through awareness raising, governmental policies and financing mechanisms. Within the long-term energy vision,
many national studies were launched to attract more investments.
In November 2011, the Lebanese government adopted the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) developed by the
LCEC and according to the Arab energy efficiency framework. The Lebanese NEEAP became the first officially adopted NEEAP
in the Arab world. It includes 14 initiatives that tend to maximize the use of energy efficient (EE) equipment as well as encourage
the use of every RE potential. It will allow Lebanon to reach its RE and EE targets. LCEC is currently updating the NEEAP while
developing the Renewable Energy Strategy for Lebanon.
In parallel to the NEEAP and in collaboration with the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), the National EE and RE Action (NEEREA)
was developed. NEEREA offers interest-free-long-term loans to EE, RE and green building projects. This step encourages lots
of companies to invest in renewable energy to secure their supply and save energy.
Solar water heaters benefit from an additional subsidy of 200 USD offered by the Ministry of Energy and Water for prequalified
systems.
Focus on MED-DESIRE partners
The achievements of the SWH financing program till date
The achievements of NEEREA till October 2013 (in USD)
http://europa.eu/
http://www.enpicbcmed.eu/
http://www.regione.puglia.it/
http://www.arti.puglia.it/
http://www.minambiente.it/
http://www.enea.it/
http://www.agenciaandaluzadelaenergia.es/
http://www.iat.es/
http://www.ciemat.es/
http://www.anme.nat.tn/
http://lcecp.org.lb/
http://www.nrea.gov.eg/
Link / News
Enjoy your reading.
Dear readers,
AREA POLITICHE PER LO SVILUPPO
ECONOMICO, LAVORO E INNOVAZIONE
SERVIZIO RICERCA INDUSTRIALE
E INNOVAZIONE
Puglia Region
Economic Development, Employment and Innovation Policy Area
Industrial Research and Innovation Department
Apulia Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation
Puglia Region implementing agency
Project leader
Consortium
The Lebanese Center
for Energy Conservation
LCEC
The Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) is a national organization affiliated to the Lebanese Ministry of Energy
and Water. LCEC addresses end-use energy conservation and renewable energy (RE) at the national level and its vision in
Lebanon is to achieve a low emission, green economic sector, shaped by the increase in the share of RE and the reduction in
the demand on Energy.
In addition to being the technical arm of the Ministry of Energy and Water in developing, implementing and monitoring its RE and
energy efficiency (EE) policies, and to being the technical backbone for the evaluation of the NEEREA projects, LCEC is currently
implementing several projects financed by the Lebanese government or by international organizations, such as: the Global Solar
Water Heating (SWH) Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative, aiming at the installation of around 190,000 sqm
of SWH by the end of 2014 and a total installed capacity of 1,050,000 sqm by 2020; the Lebanese CFL Replacement CDM
Projects, aiming the replacement of 3 million incandescent lamps by CFLs to 1 million Lebanese houses (Savings of 76 million
USD, reduction of 163 MW on electricity demands in peak hours); the Beirut River Solar Snake (BRSS), that will be the first
farm of its kind in the country, where a solar plant of 1MWp will be built on the Beirut River.
LCEC’s main activities in the MED-DESIRE project are: the contribution to communication and awareness raising and information
campaigns, the collection of information on legislative, technical and market issues, analyzing local needs and requirements
foraneffectivetechnologyandknow-howtransferwithreferencetodistributedsolartechnologies;theinvolvementintheorganization
and implementation of capacity building and training initiatives to ensure the quality of components and installations, providing
data on political, economic, financial and technical framework conditions; the collaboration in the elaboration of the financial
mechanismsimplementationmodalities,providingdatafordefininglocalframeworkconditions,selectingatargetadministration,
analysing existing ordinances and adapting them to the local conditions and the selection of local actors that will take part in the
trainings and capacity building activities.
The BRSS Project in Lebanon
Italian Ministry
for the Environment,
Land and Sea
Italian National Agency
for New technologies,
Energy and Sustainable
Economic Development
Center of Energetic,
Environmental And
Technological
Investigations - Solar
Platform of Almeria
Tunisian National
Agency for Energy
Conservation
Lebanese Center
for Energy
Conservation
Egyptian New
and Renewable
Energy Authority
Partners
Andalusian
Institute of Technology
MED-DESIRE Project Manager
Giuseppe Creanza
g.creanza@arti.puglia.it
Contacts
MED-DESIRE Communication Manager
Francesca Tondi Anna Liberti
f.tondi@arti.puglia.it a.liberti@arti.puglia.it
Andalusian Energy Agency