The European Commission has launched a tender to set up and operate the secretariat that will provide advisory and administrative support to islands in pursuit of clean energy transition.
The yet-to-be-established secretariat stems from political declaration ‘Clean Energy for All EU Islands Initiative’, signed in May 2017, under which the European Commission together with 14 member states committed to accelerate the clean energy transition on all EU islands.
In this regard, the secretariat will be tasked with conducting a benchmarking study on energy systems on islands and will assist islands stakeholders in design and preparation of decarbonization plans.
It will also create and manage a platform of exchange of practice for islands’ stakeholders involved in designing and implementing clean energy projects, as well as provide dedicated capacity building, technical assistance and advisory services, according to the European Commission.
The secretariat is foreseen to be operational from April, while the deadline to apply to the tender has been set for January 30, 2018.
The newly established body will report to the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and closely cooperate with other European Commission services as necessary.
To remind, the Clean Energy for All EU Islands Initiative aims to set concrete and ambitious objectives for 2030, whilst ensuring that all inhabited EU islands– including those islands in the outermost regions – can be supported from an organizational perspective and that the clean energy projects can be supported financially and implemented physically.