A Policy Forum of Power Sector Regulatory Frameworks for On-grid Renewable Energies

Medium-sized Project proposal
Request for GEF Funding 
Agencys Project ID: FORMTEXT 
GEFSEC Project ID: FORMTEXT 
Country: Global 
Project Title: A Policy Forum of Power Sector Regulatory Frameworks for On-grid Renewable Energies
GEF Agency: The World Bank
Other Executing Agency(ies): FORMTEXT 
Duration: One year 
GEF Focal Area: Climate Change 
GEF Operational Program: OP6
GEF Strategic Priority: CC-3
Estimated Starting Date: September 2005
Financing Plan (US$)
GEF Project/Component
Project	1,000,000
PDF A* FORMTEXT 
Sub-Total GEF	1,000,000
Co-financing**
ESMAP	750,000
Government FORMTEXT 
Bilateral FORMTEXT 
NGOs FORMTEXT 
Others FORMTEXT 
Sub-Total Co-financing: FORMTEXT 
Total Project Financing:	1,750,000
Financing for Associated Activity If Any: FORMTEXT 
* Indicate approval date of PDFA FORMTEXT 
** Details provided in the Financing Section
Record of endorsement on behalf of the Government:
 FORMTEXT (Enter Name, Position, Ministry) Date: FORMTEXT (Month, day, year)

This proposal has been prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures and meets the standards of the GEF Project Review Criteria for a Medium-sized Project.
 
Project Contact Person
Chandra Govindarajalu
Date: August 31, 2005	Tel. and email:(202) 458-1211; Cgovindarajalu@worldbank.org

PART I - Project Concept
A - Summary
Over the past decade, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided more than US$1 billion for more than 140 renewable energy (RE) projects in developing countries. GEFs experience has demonstrated that two niche areas are particularly promising for sustainable renewable energy market development in developing countries: renewable energy for income-generating opportunities, and grid-connected renewable energy policy frameworks. Grid-connected renewable energy has an important role in addressing environmental sustainability and energy security. 
The International Conference on Renewable Energies held in Bonn in June 2004 generated tremendous interest, commitments, and action plans to scale up renewable energy from governments in both developed and developing countries, multilateral agencies, civil society, and the private sector. At the Bonn Renewable Energy Conference, the GEF 1) to finance $100 million per year for country-driven renewable energy projects; 2) to host an initial meeting of a multi-stakeholder forum on renewable energies; and 3) to support the International Energy Agency (IEA) Policy and Measures Database by providing access to information on GEF projects and countries. The World Bank Group committed to a target of at least 20 percent average growth annually in both renewable energy and energy efficiency lending over the next five years. The World Bank Group also committed to increasing its staff capacity and resources so that the Group can more effectively help country and sector teams succeed in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, as well as more rapidly transfer best practice across sectors and regions.
To meet this commitment, GEF and Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) propose to co-sponsor a Policy Forum to 1) promote exchange of experiences and lessons learned on power sector policy frameworks for grid-connected renewable energy from the respective national contexts; and 2) assist a number of developing countries, who are committed to develop RE policy frameworks, to incorporate the best practices of grid-connected renewable energy policies into their national power policy frameworks. GEF plans to disseminate their experience with grid-connected renewable energy policies in China, Mexico, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa, Ukraine, and Tunisia, facilitate GEF implementing agencies to work together and encourage and stimulate new projects to enable countries to follow-up on their Bonn commitments. The main stakeholders for this Forum are: national policy makers and advisers, GEF implementing agencies and their in-country counterparts, and the private sector.
B - Country ownership
Country Eligibility and Drivenness
The International Action Program (IAP) is the central outcome of the International Conference on Renewable Energies. It contains 197 actions and commitments from governments, international organizations, and stakeholders from civil society, the private sector, and other groups. Most notably are the actions and commitments put forward by governments from both developed and developing countries to specify quantitative targets for their expansion of renewable energy. These action programs demonstrated the government determinations to substantially increase renewable energy and translated political wills into actions. With the implementation of the IAP, the global CO2 emissions will be reduced by 1.2 billion tons per year and increase access to energy services to a large number of people by 2015. 
The following table lists 20 developing countries with 1) their targets for expansion of renewable energy committed at the Bonn Conference; 2) ongoing or planned GEF projects in some of these countries; and 3) the status of their legal and regulatory frameworks for renewable energy development. The order of this list is based on the contributions of their Bonn commitments to CO2 reductions, which is one of the key objectives of GEF. Most of these targets will be met by grid-connected renewable energy. 
In addition to these countries who made political commitments to renewable energy development at the Bonn Conference, the Forum will also invite a few other developing countries with large greenhouse gas emissions and substantial renewable energy resources and those with GEF grid-connected RE projects, including Costa Rica, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Ukraine. All of these countries are eligible for GEF funding. 
Country	International Action Plan	GEF grid-connected RE projects	RE policy status
China	10% of the installed power capacity from RE by 2010, 12% by 2020	World Bank/GEF: China Renewable Energy Scaling Up Program (CRESP): $40M GEF and IBRD loans	RE Law passed in February 2005