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Republic of the Marshall Islands National Energy Policy and Energy Action Plan

VOLUME 2: ENERGY ACTION PLAN (September 2009 – August 2012)

Majuro, September 2009

Introduction

The Republic of the Marshall Islands National Energy Policy of 2009 provides an overall framework for a shift toward more sustainable national use of energy. It emphasizes the procurement of petroleum fuel on better terms to reduce its financial cost and the reduction in the use of petroleum fuels through investments in renewal energy and increased energy efficiency. The policy begins with the following background chapters:

1. National Context and Economic Overview,

2. Overview of the Energy Sector, and

3. A Framework for National Energy Policy and Its Implementation

These are followed by six chapters covering sub­sectors of energy in which action is required. Each chapter includes a statement of Government policy, key issues or obstacles that hinder more rational energy use, specific objectives, and strategies to achieve the objectives.

4. Energy Policy Administration and Implementation,

5. Petroleum and Liquid Fuels,

6. Electric Power,

7. Transport and Energy Use,

8. Energy Efficiency, and

9. Renewable Energy This Action Plan provides details of actions necessary to implement the national energy policies and strategies of chapter 4 through 9 of the policy. It includes specific activities, priorities, time required, possible funding sources, and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanism. Although this plan covers a period of 3 years, priorities, opportunities and constraints will inevitably change over time, sometimes quickly. The policy issues are likely to remain unchanged for some years but the Action Plan must be adjusted regularly to reflect current needs.

MRD and the ETF will review and amend as necessary this action plan during the third quarter of 2010. An action plan cannot be rigid. After one year, and every following year, the specific actions and timing will be reviewed through the ETF and updated as required. This will also form the basis for the annual work program of the Energy Planning Division of the Ministry of Resources and Development.

Explanatory notes:

Prioritization of activities. In the following tables, activities are prioritized as follows:

Immediate To be completed within four weeks of approval of the action plan

Very High Activity which is very important and/or there is an opportunity for very significant gain; complete as soon as possible

High Activity which is important and/or there is an opportunity for significant gain; complete as soon as practicable

Medium To be completed during the time frame indicated

Time frame of activities. It is difficult to judge the timing of activities. Some may begin later than expected as MRD or external resources are delayed or unavailable. In many cases, an activity with preparatory work in 2009 or 2010 may not be complete for 3 or 4 years or more. In general, the timeframes are indicative and will be regularly revised as required. Time frames referred to are in Calendar Years, not Fiscal Years.

Monitoring and Evaluation. The action plan is an outline table summarizing what needs to be done, by whom and when. It does not specify a mechanism for monitoring and evaluation (M&E), which will differ according to the activity. Donor­supported activities generally have an M&E requirement specific to that donor. Regardless of the type of activity and source of funding, effective M&E requires the same sort of information. It is important that MRD specify and quantify as far as possible from the beginning the following information for each activity, so that MRD and the ETF can later judge progress, obstacles, the extent of success, and remedial actions, if required:

• A clear description of the baseline situation, against which to judge progress.

(For example: There are 800 old street lights which use 250 watts each for an average of 6 hours daily. *

• The objective(s) of the activity.

(e.g. replace 75% of street lights within 12 months with energy efficient models that provide similar lighting levels.

• The outcomes of the activity.

(e.g. a reduction of at least 67% in the use of electricity for street lighting in Majuro and Ebeye with overall net savings to MEC and KAJUR ( initial costs and operating costs). The specific person and organization with prime responsibility; others who will support the activity. 

* These examples are illustrative only; they are not based on actual numbers.

The Annex. The annex to this action plan is a list of project proposals that have been prepared for a number of specific follow­up actions. These are available from MRD for comment. Although they will require some modification to meet the requirements of individual funding agencies, they provide the basic information donors will require before considering requests for assistance.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific countries ADB Asian Development Bank ADMIRE Action for the Development of Marshall Islands Renewable Energies (GEF/UNDP) AG Attorney General AusAID Australian Agency for International Development CFL Compact Fluorescent Light CMI College of the Marshall Islands CNMI Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands CROP Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific DBEDT Dept. of Business, Econ. Development & Tourism (Hawaii) DSM Demand Side Management (EE) EC European Commission EC TCF EC Technical Cooperation Fund under EDF envelope A EDF10 10th European Development Fund (EC) EDIN International Partnership for Energy Development in Island Nations (USA, New Zealand, Iceland) EE Energy Efficiency EIB European Investment Bank EPD Energy Planning Division of MRD EPPSO Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office

Energy Policy Administration and Implementation

Policy Statement

The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes weaknesses in administering past energy policies and will:

develop and enforce laws and regulations necessary to provide MRD with the authority required for effective and transparent implementation of this policy, including electric power legislation, clear guidelines for the MEC board and management, and a consistent management system for all government renewable energy programs.

The table below, taken from the RMI ‘Pacific Islands Renewable Energy Program’ (PIREP) report summarized the main responsibilities for energy within government in 2004, particularly those related to policy. This remains reasonably valid in 2009 but omits a number of important links: 1) the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in overall aid coordination; 2) the subsequent formation of the national Energy Task Force as a key advisory body reporting indirectly to Cabinet; 3) the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to set maximum retail margins for some products, including outer island petroleum fuels, and 4) the roles of the Ministry of Finance in the allocation of funds and as the formal link to development agencies active in the energy sector, including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Other government agencies are of course also involved in energy.

Key RMI Government Energy Sector Responsibilities in 2009

Marshalls Energy Company

(MEC)

•                   Electricity generation and distribution

•                   Petroleum fuel purchase, storage and sales

•                   RE installation, operation and maintenance

Notes:                   A separate power utility (KAJUR) serves the second main urban center of Ebeye The telecommunications, fisheries, education and health ministries are also involved in solar PV.

Because energy is an input to all government and private development efforts, there is inevitably a range of overlapping, fragmented and sometimes unclear energy sector responsibilities, and these responsibilities will change over time. In the Action Plan, there is therefore no attempt to provide one definitive organization chart showing responsibilities and linkages among key players. Instead, there are a series of charts which attempt to show these linkages within specific types of energy activities. Some of these will be ad hoc, some will change as activities are implemented, and some may be more­or­less permanent.

Although energy matters important to all sectors of the economy and all agencies of government, the human resources of RMI are modest; it is important that duplication of effort in the supply, distribution and regulation of energy be minimized. To achieve better coordination of energy­related activities, some legislation needs amending or creation, regulatory activities clearly assigned and responsibilities for the several forms of government energy activities specified. The numerous detailed objectives and related strategies of chapter 4 of the national energy policy have been summarized as several broader objectives below, followed by specific actions to implement them.

Objective 1:             To provide the necessary management, legal and regulatory structure for efficient and responsible management of energy supplies and services in the RMI.

Objective 2:             To develop the information and capacity necessary to provide efficient and responsible management of energy supplies and services in the RMI.

Note: The activities necessary to implement some the strategies listed in chapter 4 of the Energy Policy are dealt with in later sections of this action plan. Many activities relate to more than one aspect of energy – administration, power, fuel, renewable, etc. –. and can logically fit within various headings.

Petroleum and Liquid Fuels 

Policy Statement 

The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes that nearly total national dependence on imported petroleum fuels results in great social and economic vulnerability. It will: 

develop and enforce international standards for the storage, handling and transport of petroleum products; develop a mechanism for obtaining competitive fuel prices and monitor results; ensure that there are fair wholesale and retail fuel prices; require suppliers as a part of the supply contract to provide monthly data on imports and sales by product; and place high priority on developing the infrastructure and capacity to process coconut oil for use as a petroleum fuel replacement.  

 The responsibilities regarding petroleum standards and pricing are summarized below. However, some existing legislation and regulations have not always been adequately enforced and some need to be assessed and revised so that enforcement becomes practical.   

As the text and diagram on the previous page suggest, there are two key objectives for petroleum fuels: Objective 1: To develop to assure high quality fuel products, their storage and their transportation within the RMI Objective 2: To develop effective mechanisms for fair import prices of petroleum fuels and equitable pricing of fuel products throughout the RMI 

Note: * By mid 2009, TOR had been completed for several aspects of petroleum supply studies including MEC supply contracts and general RMI supply, (independent MEC and Government consultancies), and MEC storage issues (for WB). Project proposal 2 in the Annex is the proposed WB study. Details are available from MRD. The PIFS currently (mid 2009) retains CROP agency responsibility for petroleum fuel matters (bulk fuel purchase) but the SPC is expected to assume responsibility for all aspects of petroleum policy from early 2010. In late 2009, SOPAC may produce the regional quarterly petroleum pricing monitor formerly done by PIFS. In the event of local production of biofuels, this will be included in all fuel data and in any fuel pricing mechanism developed.

Notes: * See note under Objective 5.1. In addition, it is expected that changes to the price control legislation will be required.

 Electric Power   

Policy statement 

The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes the importance of electrifying all households on all islands with sustainable and environmentally appropriate energy supplies. The Government will develop and enforce: 

clear and equitable electricity tariffs, laws and regulations necessary to provide MRD with the authority required for effective and transparent implementation of this policy including electric power legislation, clear guidelines for the MEC board, mechanisms for allowing renewable energy to feed into the grid, and a consistent management system for all government renewable energy programs   

The RMI has had a reasonable quality of power supply for many years in Majuro and a substantially improved service recently in Ebeye. However there has been some concern, whether fairly or not, within Cabinet about the management of MEC and the costs of electric power supply. Therefore, an independent and transparent review will be carried out of MEC’s management and financial operations as a high priority. This review is implicitly included within the broader actions to be undertaken under chapter 4 “Energy Policy Administration and Implementation” but is spelled out further in this chapter. The findings are expected to form the basis for any necessary changes to legislation, regulations and guidelines.

There has been an increase in recent years in electrification in outer islands through solar PV, with household systems managed by MEC and others by various ministries, but without out any consistent management and financial framework for sustainability. A better management framework is necessary to improve operations of both existing systems and the new systems required to complete the electrification of 100% of all households desiring service. Therefore the management of solar PV in the RMI will also be reviewed, but this is covered in chapter 9, Renewable Energy.

The electric power sector objectives of the energy policy are summarized as follows for the purposes of follow­up actions:

Objective 1: To reduce MEC supply side energy losses by 20% of 2009 levels by 2015, consistent with sound technical and financial criteria.

Objective 2: Clear mechanisms and responsibilities for effective urban power supply

Note: * Timing is dependent on PPA/ADB

Note: * Submitted to the WB for consideration. Details are available from the MOF or MRD. It is expected that MRD will have a place on the MEC board as a result of board membership will change with MRD as a member.

Transport and Energy Use

Policy Statement The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes that land, sea and air transport is the largest user of imported energy in the country and measures to improve the energy efficiency of transport are at the core of an energy policy that focuses on reducing foreign energy dependence. It will:

take the lead in the procurement of more efficient vehicles, ships and boats, and establish rules for improved maintenance and operations with the goal of improving transport efficiency and lowering imported transport fuels by 20% by 2020 adjust tax structures to encourage the import and sale of energy efficient forms of transport; and mandate the use of locally produced biofuel in diesel powered government vehicles by 2015.

The goal of the energy policy is to lower the amount of fuel imported for transport by 20% by 2020 relative to a 2009 baseline. Three types of efforts can help meet this goal: (1) improved average vehicle fuel efficiency in miles per gallon (mpg) of fuel used; (2) improved efficiency of management of vehicles through increased average passenger mpg of fuel or, for freight carrying vehicles, increased average ton mpg; and (3) replacement of imported fuel by locally produced biofuel.

Land, sea and domestic air transport is the largest user of imported fuel in the RMI. The quality of life and the economic survival of outer island residents is tied strongly to the cost of transporting goods and people to and from Majuro, Ebeye and other islands. It is especially important that the fuel efficiency of sea transport be improved both through technical means and through improved management of the available facilities.

Land transport fuel is mostly used for transporting people from place to place with efficiency gains both through improved vehicular efficiencies and through higher occupancy of transport vehicles.

Some of the improvement can come from better fuel efficiency brought about by improved maintenance of the existing vehicle stock. A project is proposed to develop private sector vehicle testing and basic car maintenance facilities, with equipment and personnel training provided under donor funding. Initially, testing and maintenance would be voluntary, with vehicle owners participating because they expect lowered operating costs. The testing process will later be extended to include emissions testing and become mandatory no later than 2015. The testing and maintenance process will be mandatory for government vehicles, and vehicles owned by government­owned corporations, from the time of initiation of the program.

Much of the improvement will have to come from replacing existing vehicles with more fuel efficient models which is a slow process. Thus the goal cannot be reached immediately. In particular, 100 per cent of vehicles used in public transport, mainly private taxis and mini­buses, should be mandated to be high fuel efficiency models within 10 years. If this goal is to be reached, all regulations and actions encouraging replacement of gasoline powered low efficiency vehicles with high efficiency hybrids and diesel powered vehicles and mandating improvement in the public transport fleet must come into force immediately (i.e. during 2009) so people can plan for vehicle replacement.

For improving sea transport efficiency, improved management of existing ships to optimize fuel use can provide a reduction in fuel import requirements. The ultimate replacement of existing shipping with high fuel efficiency vessels specifically designed for the type of transport service needed in RMI can dramatically improve sea transport efficiency. For personal and local transport the replacement of low efficiency outboard motors with higher efficiency outboards and inboards is practical provided users have access to a seller of the equipment and finance for its purchase. Where diesel engines are used, the use of island produced biofuel for local sea transport and the addition of sail supplementation for fishing and lagoon transport can further reduce the need for imported fuel for sea transport.

The numerous detailed objectives of chapter 7 of the national energy policy have been summarized as a single objective below, with the strategies rephrased, followed by specific actions to implement each strategy:

Objective: To lower the amount of fuel imported for transport use by 20% from the 2009 baseline by 2020. 

Energy Efficiency

Policy Statement The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes that improving the efficiency of energy use has greater short term value for reducing dependence on foreign sources of energy than any other action. The MRD will develop an energy management plan for government, including processes for its

implementation and monitoring. Government will: revise taxes to encourage the import and sale of appliances, vehicles and boats having the highest energy efficiency; develop energy efficiency standards for new buildings and renovations including homes, businesses and government premises, with financing on

subsidized terms for designs and construction meeting the standards;

carry out energy audits on government facilities, with the responsible departments each developing and submitting an investment plan for the capitalization of energy efficiency improvements for the facilities; and require government departments to each name an energy manager who will develop and implement an energy management plan. Monitoring will be

by MRD and annual reports detailing energy usage will be submitted.

Energy efficiency improvements are the first and most effective actions to take for reducing fossil fuel use. Every sector can save 15% or more of electricity use without any major investment, degradation of quality of life or lower effectiveness of services. Attention to detail, the use of energy efficient equipment and an understanding of the actions needed are the main paths to successful reduction in energy use by households, businesses and government. This initial action plan focuses on determining where waste occurs, practical measures to improve efficiency, acceptable terms financing for any investment needed, education and management of electrical energy use.

In the RMI a particularly inefficient use of energy is for air­conditioning. Much, and in some cases all, of the energy used for air­conditioning can be saved if simple measures are carried out. These include adding relatively inexpensive heat transfer barriers under building roofs, decreasing the absorption of solar energy through white and reflective building surface coatings, shading air­conditioner condenser units, adding shading or reflective films for east and west facing windows, adding ceiling fans to increase personal comfort and replacing inefficient air­conditioners with high efficiency units. Buildings constructed using designs that provide a high level of energy efficiency can provide comfortable living with no air­conditioning at all. The action plan therefore has a strong focus on reducing air­conditioning loads and on providing affordable finance for the investments needed to make those actions work. For long term improvement in building energy efficiency, building codes and standards that promote energy efficiency are listed actions. Likewise, for new homebuilders and renovators actions include a financing program that can provide housing with improved energy efficiency at a monthly cost that is no greater than the reduced expenditure on energy thereby maintaining a constant cash flow for energy related expenditures.

Appliances in general, in particular air­conditioners, refrigerators and freezers, are available in RMI in a wide range of efficiencies with cheap Chinese made units very poor in efficiency as well as high quality, brand name Energy Star rated units available at typically a higher purchase price. Attempts have been made in numerous countries to mandate the energy efficiency of consumer appliances but without a substantial local infrastructure for testing, regulation and inspection those measures are not likely to succeed. For small island countries, raising import duties and taxes of inefficient equipment to a level that makes high efficiency equipment competitive in the market place probably has a better chance of success than mandatory labeling. Taxation of lower efficiency appliances also makes good economic sense since their import costs the nation in a number of ways and the taxes help recover some of those costs. A program to provide favorable finance for the efficient appliances is an important incentive to consumers and is included as an action. Voluntary labeling indicating appliance efficiency clearly is useful for consumer choice but only if the label is accurate and relates to the conditions of use in the RMI. The labeling schemes used in the various countries likely to export appliances to the RMI are not appropriate. If labeling is to be used, a local stick­on label that “translates” the label provided by the country of origin needs to be used. For example, US energy efficiency tags show an expected annual energy cost for the appliance that send a very incorrect message to the RMI buyer. The US cost estimate of energy use is based on a much lower cost of electricity than the cost in the RMI. The annual energy cost to the RMI consumer may be four or more times larger than the number shown on the US label and to be useful to the consumer in decision making that needs to be corrected. With the relatively small turnover of major appliances in the RMI, the addition of local labels when new inventory is received should not be a major problem.

Government is a major but not a very efficient energy user. It is important that Government set an example for businesses and households by reducing the demand for imported fuel both directly as a user of petroleum products and indirectly through the reduced use of diesel­generated electricity. This action plan focuses on initiating in the short term the processes needed to reach the policy goal of 40% reduction of fossil fuels used by Government by 2020. The renewable energy section of the action plan provides for offsetting fossil fuel imports through solar and other renewable energies, the transport section provides for reducing the dependence on fossil fuels for land and sea transport and this energy efficiency section provides for reducing Government’s fossil fuel use through increased efficiency of energy use in Government. The primary approach used is to make each Government Department individually responsible for its energy use and for improving energy efficiency. This approach has been used in other Pacific Islands with varying levels of success depending on how serious the Finance Ministry and other Ministry heads are regarding energy efficiency and how budgets are managed. The effectiveness of this approach is reduced if individual departments must return funds to the Treasury that were budgeted for energy and were not expended due to efficiency improvements. This is a disincentive for energy efficiency. For the process to be effective departments that come in under­budget on energy expenditures should be allowed to shift the left over funds to other areas within the departmental budget rather than penalizing the department for lowering energy expenditures below those budgeted.

Because of the complexity of government energy usage, actions to increase the efficiency of government energy use will be based on a government­wide energy audit carried out by a professional auditing firm familiar with tropical island systems.

At the core of all programs for general improvement of national energy efficiency is increasing public awareness of both the value that energy efficiency provides individuals and the opportunities that exist for personal action. However, these actions should not be carried out in isolation. The process of gaining public attention is vital but once the attention is focused on energy efficiency, there needs to be a process available to guide and support individuals and businesses in taking the appropriate actions.

Effective public awareness programs are multifaceted. It has been shown elsewhere that public information effectiveness increases with the increasing number of channels used for distributing information; so all forms of public media available in RMI need to be used. Also public awareness fades rapidly if awareness programs are not continued for the long term making it necessary to create a semi­permanent work structure for the preparation and distribution of public awareness information. News articles, particularly those showing some local activity or experience that relates to improved energy efficiency, are generally more effective than paid advertisements, posters or flyers – although those are useful for maintaining the public’s attention. So attention should be given to keeping the news media informed of actions or events relating to energy. Finally, including kiosks focusing on energy efficiency at fairs and special public events are another effective approach for keeping public attention on energy efficiency actions particularly if low cost free items are offered to those who stop by the kiosk (e.g. posters, stickers for light switches, key chains, etc.).

Since the students of today are the decision makers of tomorrow, the action plan includes educational programs for middle school, high school and tertiary school students. Besides the long term benefits of the student exposure to energy efficiency issues and actions, student bring those ideas home with them and provide family education through school homework that includes home energy audits, interviews with family members about energy and personal actions by the student to improve home energy efficiency.

The actions focus on improved efficiency rather than conservation. Conservation has a connotation of making do with less or accepting increased discomfort whereas efficiency means doing more and often doing better with less energy and money.

Currently, there is no clear responsibility for energy efficiency activities in the RMI. Experience elsewhere suggests that power utilities can be supportive but are unlikely to initiate and carry out a substantive program, because of other priorities and the impact on revenue.  The government should take the lead.    

MEC

* Several thousand CFLs are in stock and ready for distribution; more are to be provided from either EC or Italian support)

Renewable Energy

Policy statement

The Government of the Marshall Islands recognizes that socio­economic development will require an increased level of energy production and that only through the development of local renewable energy resources can there be a reduction in long­term dependence on imported petroleum. The government will:

aggressively support the development of all environmentally appropriate, practical and economic Indigenous energy resources so that local renewable energy will provide 20% of electrical energy generated in the Marshall Islands by the end of 2020;

mandate that Imported energy for land transport will be replaced where practical by locally produced biofuel and for sea transport both wind energy and biofuel will be increasingly used;

take the lead in the use of indigenous energy to replace imported petroleum with a goal of a 40% total reduction in energy from petroleum fuels within government by the end of 2020

ensure that all outer island energy development will be through the use of indigenous energy sources where technically practical; and

require that all renewable energy technologies accepted by government for use in the Marshall Islands shall be commercially proven and shall have more than five years of successful service in remote, tropical islands through installations of a similar type and size as those needed in the Marshall Islands.

Solar energy, wind energy and biofuel production use renewable energy technologies available to RMI that are well developed technically and can be developed rapidly. Each poses different types of problems that need to be overcome for large scale energy production and this action plan is intended to provide progress and direction in overcoming those problems. Of the three technologies, only biofuel has the potential for base load electricity generation. The RMI’s solar and wind resource is too variable and seasonal to be developable as a reliable large scale source of energy that can operate alone without adding excessively costly energy storage. Solar PV and water heaters can be roof mounted but large scale wind energy development is hampered by land access issues and the nearly universal presence of tall trees on Majuro. For Majuro and certainly for Ebeye, large scale wind power will most likely have to be developed in the lagoon or on the reef. One unanswered but important question is how the local reef/lagoon life will react to the undersea noise and vibrations generated by the wind machines. As part of the action plan, there will be a study of the proposed CMI wind machine site on the Majuro reef, including a survey before and after the wind system installation of the surrounding reef ecosystem, to better understand the environmental effects.

Until the technical and economic problems of large electrical energy storage are solved, solar and wind can only supplement other energy sources and reduce imports of fossil fuel, not provide base load generation. Biofuel on the other hand can directly replace fossil fuel for base load generation and, in combination with wind and solar, can be developed sufficiently in Majuro to reach the difficult but achievable goal of 20% of all electric generation from indigenous energy sources.

The goal for Government to reduce the use of petroleum fuels by 40% relative to the 2009 baseline is also achievable. At least half can be through improved energy efficiency. The rest will mostly be through solar PV on government buildings to offset their air­conditioning load and through the use of locally produced biofuel for diesel vehicle operation. Also, a significant reduction of government petroleum fuel use can be achieved by operating Majuro and Ebeye water pumps directly from solar energy.  

By the end of 2013 and the completion of the EC EDF10 project, most of the outer island population and public facilities should be electrified with solar energy. The next step can be the gradual conversion of existing diesel grid power systems – both local government­operated and MEC operated 

– to solar photovoltaics and battery storage. Conceptually, solar PV will provide the off­peak power with diesel engines providing peak power and topping off the solar batteries on days with insufficient solar for charging. As the action plan does not include hybrid systems with PV and diesel operating simultaneously and sharing the load for two reasons: (1) for most of these small outer island diesel systems, the peak occurs outside of the time when the solar is a maximum and solar could not be well utilized; and (2) the diesel engines will operate at much better efficiency if loading is controlled so that it always ranges between about 70% and 80% of the engine rating, and that can be achieved through operation only at peak load times plus controlled use of diesel power for battery charging. 

The largest energy resource for the RMI is the ocean but as of 2009, the technical systems for harvesting that energy through OTEC, wave power, tidal power or ocean current power are not commercially proven for utility use and not yet ready for use in the RMI. When they become commercially available, which is expected to be well before OTEC, wave power systems may provide a small base load capacity when the ocean is not flat calm, but for RMI they would mostly provide varying power to supplement other base load generation as it the case with wind and solar. No data has been collected concerning the wave energy or OTEC resource in the RMI and these assessments are included as a part of this first action plan so their potential can be assessed relative to other indigenous energy sources. 

As shown in the following diagram for solar PV systems, the current management of renewable energy in the RMI is confusing with unclear and overlapping standards, responsibilities and inconsistent operations, maintenance and their financing. There must be clear responsibilities and a consistent approach to standards, management and financing if these RE systems are to become sustainable. 

CMI & Other Ministry of MEC Private RE Transportation Producers and Communications OEPPC 

 Details need to be resolved but for electrification through renewable energy, there should be a single ministry responsible for RE standards for government and government­owned enterprises (MRD) and a single entity for operations and maintenance (logically MEC, with a division dedicated to RE operating on a cost recover basis).  There are actions to address this. 

Ministry of Finance

Resources & Development

Organizations providing RE training or support: OEPPC, CMI and Others 

Ministries & Departments with RE programs:

Education, Fisheries, Telecom Health and Others 

For biofuels, there are of course no current arrangements. However, responsibilities will differ from those of RE­based electrification. 

MEC TOBOLAR

* By the time of this activity, SOPAC may no longer exist. Technical assistance and data should be available from SPC

Annex ­Initial List of RMI Energy Project Proposals Prepared

(EC REP­5 Project EP/RMI4/5/NPE1: Energy Policy and Planning)

The following project proposals for energy sector support to the RMI have been prepared as part of the European Commission’s support for the RMI’s energy policy development. These are expected to be revised by MRD and the ETF according to the criteria of the development agency approached to finance the activity. Draft proposals are available from MRD for comment.