Montenegro

GTZ and UNDP officialized cooperation in Montenegro energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors

Podgorica, 7 December 2009

To support the coordination and collaboration in the area of sustainable development in Montenegro, the representatives of GTZ and UNDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding with relation to future joint activities in energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. GTZ and UNDP Offices in Montenegro joined their forces in order to optimize the results in those fields. In a number of meetings and round tables with participation of experts engaged by GTZ and UNDP and the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Unit staff that operates within the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro, fields of joint interventions were defined to provide better results. The conclusions from those meetings served as a basis for the MoU.  

This Memorandum of Understanding is a continuation of an agreement signed by the representatives of GTZ and UNDP early in September this year, where two parties agreed to become strategic partners in the analysis, design and implementation of interventions that would most effectively support Montenegro in reaching its goal to achieve the status of Ecological State.  
 
“We are all aware that renewable energy and energy efficiency are inseparable steps towards achieving the best results in climate change preservation and adequate usage of disposable energy potentials,” said Mr. Thomas Waldraff, Country Director of GermanTechnical Cooperation (GTZ). “The project which concerns energy efficiency is still being negotiated and is €1,900,000 worth. We expect additional two million euros so that we can support Montenegro in this area until 2012. The GTZ and UNDP teams are working intensively with the Ministry of Economy,” Mr. Waldraff explained.

Mr. Alexander Avanessov, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Montenegro Avanesov Alexander pointed out that the main goal of signing the Memorandum is to support the Government of Montenegro to reduce gas emissions and greenhouse effect, by creating favorable legal, regulatory and market environment. “We are trying to develop not only the sector of small hydropower plants but also to clear the way for the use of other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass energy,” said Mr. Avanessov. “Being primarily here to support the renewables, we want to do more in the field of renewable energy sources. And we know that our cooperation with GTZ - whose field of work is energy efficiency - has great potential, and that the government of Montenegro gives great attention to this issue. It is important to translate the concept of the ecological state to reality and to help find the most effective and best solution to the problems of climate change,” Mr. Avanessov said.

The future cooperation and provision of assistance to the Ministry of Economy will, among other things, refer to the following areas: new legislation, monitoring of the system, future joint projects and rising of public awareness. The GTZ and UNDP representatives expect to be able to communicate the results of the projects to the public in less than a year.

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GTZ's project titled “Energy efficiency in Montenegro” started in April 2008, with an aim to provide technical support to the Government of Montenegro in the area of energy efficiency. Beside the activities related to the support in development of legislation framework in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, GTZ initiated a number of other specific projects such as energy audit of public buildings and training of future energy auditors, a project for raising public awareness of the importance of energy efficiency, etc.. In addition, a significant activity in 2009 was organizing the Regional Conference on Energy Safety and Energy Efficiency which was held in March 2009 in Budva. 

Since June 2008, UNDP Montenegro has been implementing the Project for Power sector policy reform to promote small hydro-power development in Montenegro, with $1 million financial assistance from Global Environment Facility (GEF). The main objective of this Project is to support the Government in reducing Green House Gas emissions by creating favorable legal, regulatory and market environment and building institutional and administrative capacities to promote development of Montenegro’s small hydropower potential for grid-connected electricity generation.

UNDP has been providing full support to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Unit in creating a legislation framework for development of a small hydro-power plants sector in line with the best world practices. Following the experiences and achieved results of this Project, the activities of this kind will in future expand and include other renewable sources of energy too, thus creating the necessary preconditions for increase in energy capacities in Montenegro with full respect for the environmental protection principles.

UNDP is strongly dedicated to climate change preservation, and through this Project it is working to endorse renewable energy sector as the current cleanest and most environmentally friendly way of energy production.

Through policy reform; setting up favorable investments procedures; gathering and promoting necessary data; purchasing of adequate equipment and other appropriate interventions, UNDP in Montenegro is trying not just to develop small hydro power sector but to pave the path to establishment of other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power, biomass. etc..

Fully devoted to the principles of sustainable development and environmental protection, UNDP Montenegro is currently - through several project initiatives - promoting the economic development of the northern region as economically most endangered part of the country. Working in line with established standards we are combining two very important goals: economic growth and climate change preservation of the country. 

Renewable energy sources represent the best example of such an approach and, having in mind the ecological prefix of Montenegro, they are the future of the country. The potential for this type of business is without any doubt enormous, and it is only up to the Government and the stakeholders to create a favorable business environment for investments in this sector.