Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, China to spur cooperation in renewable energy technologies

Officials from Ethiopia, China and Sri Lanka on Wednesday vowed to spur trilateral partnership under the South-South cooperation modality in the renewable energy technologies sector.

They disclosed the joint commitments in the renewable energy technologies sector in here on Wednesday during a high-level workshop, which focused on a trilateral South-South cooperation that will focus on enhancing access to renewable energy technologies within the global commitment to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As part of the trilateral South-South cooperation which was discussed on among officials from the three countries, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka are partnering with China on a trilateral South-South cooperation that will focus on enhancing access to renewable energy technologies within the global commitment to achieve the SDGs.

According to the UN Development Program (UNDP) Ethiopia office, the trilateral cooperation project among the three countries “seeks to promote sustainable energy solutions by focusing on demonstrating the applicability of biogas and solar photovoltaic technologies for communities in Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.”

“Close technical cooperation between countries could be the key to acquire sustainable energy technologies for developing countries,” Harsha Wickramasinghe, Deputy Director-General of Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Energy Authority, told the high-level inception workshop organized by UNDP and the government of Ethiopia.

“It will speed up the dissipation of technologies vital for the global energy transition. This project could be a good start for similar actions all over the developing world,” Wickramasinghe added.

Financing for the three-year project comes from the Ministry of Commerce of China with the provision of two million USD, which will be equally shared between Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.

UNDP and the government of Ethiopia are also expected to contribute resources for the implementation of the project, which is expected to be officially launched later this year.

Ethiopia’s State Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Frehiwot Woldehana emphasized the significance of the imminent trilateral South-South cooperation among the three countries and the UNDP to Ethiopia’s vision to close the energy gap by 2025 by providing access to clean renewable energy to its citizens.

UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative, Turhan Saleh, also stressed the project’s vital importance to UNDP’s engagements in Ethiopia.

“As we support Ethiopia to improve access to the renewable energy mix, we help the country to promote a climate-resilient green economy and foster inclusive growth that is strongly gender-sensitive as women and children bear the brunt of a country’s energy challenge,” the UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative said.

Liu Yu, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, also reaffirmed China’s progressive role as one of the major funders of renewable energy technologies and green economy globally.

“China is always a strong supporter of international cooperation. We are a long-term supporter of the multilateral mechanism with the UN at its core. We want to make better use of international organizations,” said Liu.

Liu further underscored the growing Ethiopia-China partnership in multilateral cooperation platforms, which she said will help the East African country to benefit from technical and financial support in renewable energy technologies as an essential imputes for achieving the SDGs.

The high-level workshop also explored possible plans of action to address question around barriers to access to energy solutions, tackle issues around sustainability in terms of production and consumption, while touching upon topics like how to scale up on market access opportunities.

-Agencies