Comoros receives the Thomas Jensen Energy Transition Award
Climate Investment Platform supports energy demand and consumption assessment in public buildings and religious spaces in Comoros
Despite its high electrification rate - one of the highest in Africa – the Union of Comoros encounters a particularly challenging energy situation. The country's dependence on fossil fuels and worn-out national electricity network depleted by low operation and maintenance hamper socioeconomic development in an already fragile context. Main towns and the capital Moroni routinely experience several hours of recurrent load-shedding per day.
Comoros is an archipelago, and its geography lends itself to a decentralized power grid with different levels of government representing each island. However, the large stock of public buildings owned by the Government of Comoros can be utilized to host solar energy installations and tackle the energy crisis. In addition to public buildings, mosques represent a significant share of total consumed electric energy in a country where nearly 98% of the population is Muslim and the mosque attendance is central to religious rituals, practices and sense of community.
"Public buildings account for around 15% of daily national energy consumption, said Said Mohamed Nassur, Director of Energy within the Comoros Ministry of Energy, Water and Hydrocarbons. "Reducing the national bill by promoting renewable energy will strongly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions".
Technical assistance granted to Comoros following the call for proposals by the Climate Investment Platform will help the General Directorate for Energy, Mining and Water to establish the need for self-consumption. For a period of six months, the project Green and smart administration: Promoting self-production and consumption among public facilities (administration and great mosques) in Comoros will assess energy demand and consumption in public and religious buildings on three islands of Ngazidja, Anjouan, and Mohéli.
The Ministry will use the feasibility study results to implement individual and collective self-consumption and, if possible, self-production on all public facilities in the Union of Comoros.
“Public administrations’ performance is at the mercy of unstable electricity supply. Promoting clean energy will contribute to the national objective of increasing renewable energy supply – it will also help to boost government performance and efficiency. The Thomas Jensen Energy Transition Award from the Climate Investment Platform is a meaningful step towards more inclusive and better informed climate initiatives. It will contribute to promote energy savings and green practices that have the potential of being replicated in other public spaces across the country”, added Fenella Frost, UNDP Representative in Comoros
Mohamed Oussein Dahalani, Imam in the Great Mosque of Moroni, emphasized the role of clean energy in supporting the mission of great mosques in supporting sustainable development initiatives for the community's well-being and its environment. The unreliability of the current power grid and the high cost of electricity makes the possibility of switching or incorporating more renewable into the energy mix very attractive. The CIP funded project will contribute to the Nationally Determined Contributions articulated by Comoros.