2nd Meeting of the MSP Working Group on Financial Issues

The 2nd meeting of the MSP Working Group on financial issues took place on 19 September at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona. This group is part of the MSP Master Plan building process and aims at discussing concrete and operational proposals together with the concerned stakeholders.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the public sector (European Commission, France, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia), industrial associations (Desertec Industrial Initiative, European Solar Thermal Electricity Association, Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry), public financial institutions (European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, World Bank), private financial institutions (Banca Infrastrutture Innovazione e Sviluppo, BBVA, La Caixa, Cassa di Depositi e Prestiti, First Financial Investment, Garanti Bank, Halk Bankasi, Inframed, Natixis, Unicredito), and energy-related technical assistance projects (Paving the Way to the MSP, MED-EMIP) and research institutes (Observatoire Méditerranéen de l’Energie, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research).

WG members had very stimulating discussions on the basis of a document drafted by the UfMS Energy division. The debate was largely focused on ways for creating innovative financial tools, such as project bonds, perspectives of setting up special off-taker platforms, and possibilities for exporting green energy to Europe (in accordance with art. 9 of the EU’s renewable energy directive). The idea of creating an MSP risk mitigation instrument was also debated. In addition, the group discussed measures to be taken at other levels (e.g. with regard to regulatory frameworks and capacity development) that are directly related to these issues. In this respect, the announcement of an MSP project preparation facility to be funded by the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) was particularly welcomed.

The national focal points of the member states for the MSP will discuss these issues in the coming weeks taking into account the contribution of the WG.