THE SUSTAINABLE Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has approved a US$740,000 technical assistance grant for Mozambique to enhance private investments in the country’s renewable energy sector.

 Specifically, the new SEFA grant will support the implementation of the country’s feed-in tariff regime for small-to-medium renewable energy projects through the provision of standardised power purchase agreements, guidelines for grid connectivity, and investor guidelines for prospective developers.

The grant will lay the foundation for a mini-grid regulatory framework, with special focus on designing a tariff structure and corresponding technical and environmental regulations, as well as providing capacity-building and awareness-raising activities for national and local representatives.

“The SEFA project will play a key role in unlocking investments in small-scale renewables, particularly in rural areas where needs are the greatest,” AfDB coordinator for SEFA, João Duarte Cunha said.

“This will certainly improve energy access for households and businesses while reducing dependence from large-scale hydro and upcoming coal and gas projects.”

The fund is in support of the country’s long-term objective of increasing energy access to 50 percent by 2024 and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030.

Mozambique is rich in renewable energy sources which remain largely untapped in a country where only 33 per cent of the population has access to electricity.