10 February, an important step for the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP): the Master Plan kicks off
The MSP, a flagship UfM initiative aiming at promoting the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency and at building up at least 20 GW of new generation capacities, was launched at the Paris summit of July 2008.
The MSP requires the elaboration of a Master Plan by 2012. The Secretariat has been tasked to coordinate its development in close cooperation with all the stakeholders, in particular, the European Commission (EC) and the UfM countries.
The MSP Master Plan has the following objectives: Defining ways of how to tackle key issues related to a large scale, market-driven deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in UfM countries: regulatory framework, financial support mechanisms, capacity development tools…; Developing a roadmap that will identify the necessary steps and framework conditions to reach this goal; Providing a platform where all the stakeholders can meet and exchange, serving as interface and a focal point for the various projects and initiatives.
The goals, content structure and working methods of the MSP Master Plan were presented by Marc Strauss and Steffen Erdle, UfM Secretariat Senior advisers for Energy, in Brussels on the 10 February 2011. Following this kick off, the elaboration of the MSP Master Plan will actually start.
The meeting on 10 February was the first meeting prepared and chaired by the Secretariat. It took place back to back with a meeting dedicated to “Paving the way to the MSP”, a large technical assistance program managed by the EC. The two meetings were prepared jointly by the EC and by the Secretariat. They were held in the EC premises. More than 100 people from UfM countries, International Financial Institutions, technical organizations or projects attended.
