Support to Energy Market Integration and Sustainable Energy in the NIS (SEMISE)

Project Description

The SEMISE’s assistance will take a three-pronged approach featuring the three main areas of assistance:

• Capacity Building Activities: Regional events fostering capacity building, transfer of know how and networking among the Partner Countries will be organised to address specific common themes in energy market convergence and sustainable energy.
• Ad Hoc Expert Facility: Country-specific needs with a regional dimension will be addressed through the Ad Hoc Expert Facility specifically for energy market convergence and sustainable energy.
• Project Preparation Facility: Targeted support will be provided for facilitating investments in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors, in cooperation with international financial institutions and selected local financial institutions.

The SEMISE project will undertake additional activities including awareness raising and networking; however the above three areas of assistance will form the bulk of work to be carried out by the SEMISE project.

Project Objective

The overall objective of this project is to contribute to achieving the goals defined at the Energy Ministers’ conference held on 30 November 2006 in Astana, as well as any future objectives, which might be set out in this framework, particularly as regards energy market convergence, investment facilitation and the promotion of sustainable energy.

Specific Objectives

• Identifying the gaps and the obstacles impeding progress towards regional energy market convergence as well as ways of improving and accelerating the convergence process at regional and sub-regional levels, by contributing to supporting the development of stable and secure energy relationships between Partner Countries and between these and the EU);
• Supporting energy investments, notably by contributing to creating a more conducive business environment, helping in the development of regional energy infrastructure, establishing collaborative links with energy companies, lending institutions and representatives of the business sector, identifying project opportunities and making project preparation services available to financing institutions such as the EIB, EBRD and selected local FIs;
• Promoting the development of sustainable energy policies and assisting the Partner Countries in their implementation, with a particular focus on the promotion of demand-side management, energy efficiency in all pertinent sectors, renewable energies, and the mitigation of the negative impact of energy -related activities on the environment

Expected Results

The Expected results are as follows:

• Progress towards greater harmonisation of policies, legislations and regulatory practices as well as energy investment frameworks in the Partner Countries and more generally, towards setting up of a more integrated energy market in the region;
• Steps forward in terms of institutional strengthening, awareness-raising and capacity development in key energy areas, including in regard to sustainability strategies, policy formulation, regulation and tariff setting, legislation drafting, energy efficiency development and energy auditing;
• Facilitation of financing by the banking sector (regional or local) or international institutions, of energy efficiency-related infrastructure projects initiated by the public sector, energy companies and/or private investors, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency, energy conservation, renewable energy projects and infrastructure of common regional interest (whenever possible with the available budget resources), through a project preparation facility.