Renewable energy site opens in Cape Verde

PRAIA, Cape Verde, July 6 (UPI) -- A regional center tasked with helping to develop renewable energy potential for West Africa opened Tuesday in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.

The Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency will help develop renewable energy and energy efficiency markets in West Africa, generate policy, build capacity and quality assurance mechanisms and design financing plans, the United Nations said in a release. The center is supported by the U.N. Industrial Development Organization and the governments of Austria, Cape Verde and Spain.

The center will also implement demonstration projects that could be scaled up in the Economic Community of West African States region, the United Nations said.

"The current energy systems in the (Economic Community of West African States) region are failing to support the growth prospects of the over 262 million inhabitants, especially the needs of the poor," said Yoshiteru Uramoto, a U.N. Industrial Development Organization official.

The center's opening "is a central milestone in efforts to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies and services in the region," Uramoto said. "Investing in renewable energy systems and introducing energy efficient technologies will contribute to the region's economic and social development without harming the environment."