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National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action (NEEREA)
Ministry of Energy and Water
Lebanon

The Problem

A country like Lebanon with no declared fuel resources, suffered from electricity shortcuts mainly due to the nonexistence of enough electricity resources, and the inefficient use of electricity. This put the country under economic, social, and development stress.
The population had no motivation to adopt renewable energy and energy efficiency practices, and the deficit gap increase with years putting more burdens on the electricity utility, the government, and the citizens.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The solution compromises of 3 major points starting with the development of the National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action (NEEREA)with the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) and the UNDP. NEEREA is a vehicle to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across Lebanon.
The initiative also includes the development of a set of criteria to assess the technical eligibility of potential projects to benefit from the BDL incentive scheme. Compatibility with these criteria will also ensure the technical validation as well as the certification of potential projects submitted to BDL through the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC), hosted at the Ministry of Energy and Water.
On the other hand, the distribution of 3 million CFLs all over Lebanon was initiated with the Ministry of Energy and Water.
With a budget of 7 million US Dollars dedicated to buy and distribute 3 million Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs), 23-Watt lamps were purchased to replace 100-Watt incandescent lighting bulbs at one million Lebanese residences all over the country, three bulbs per residence. The saving is estimated to be 28 US Dollars per person per year, equivalent to 76 million US Dollars per year saving to the government. Accordingly, the country would avoid building an additional capacity of 163 mega watts.
LCEC followed up and submitted the project as a CDM project, which was accepted and a purchase agreement was signed with an international company to buy the carbon credit leading to a revenue of 2.7 million dollars to the Ministry of Energy and Water.
Last but not Least, the LCEC and the Ministry of Energy and Water launched the first solar water heaters subsidy program that is based on subsidizing the purchase of solar water heaters by securing bank loans free of interest in cooperation with the Central Bank of Lebanon, and the ministry's support material worth $200 each solar heater.
The only condition to benefit from the subsidy is to have a qualified product and a qualified team to install it. For this purpose the LCEC launched a prequalification program to short list the SWH dealers in Lebanon and ensure high quality products and operation.
This budget set for this program was 1.5 million dollars, and was secured by the government of Lebanon upon the proposal by the Ministry of Energy and Water approved in March 2010 to support the LCEC in its target to achieve an added capacity of 190,000 square meters of solar water heaters by 2014, and achieve an annual sales of at least 50,000 square meters.
The ongoing project has led to an installation of more than 4000 solar water heaters, and when completed has an expected saving exceeding 22.5 GWh per year.
This program was successful in creating a positive momentum and the market witnessed a huge demand on solar water heaters. The solar companies also witnessed an obvious increase in their businesses which led to a wide range of dealers supplying and manufacturing solar water heaters.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The implementation of the project is done in cooperation with various parties and stakeholders from Lebanon and the region.
The LCEC closely coordinates with the Ministry of Energy and Water, and the UNDP. In addition the EU commission in Lebanon and other international organizations.
In addition, EU projects such as the MED-ENEC, MED-EMIP, and the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, were partners with LCEC in this aspect.
Locally, LCEC coordinates with universities, NGOs, energy experts, and other stakeholders involved in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Especially during the set up of the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan that was reviewed in different phases until reaching the final draft.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Development of the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) For Lebanon
Within the endeavors undertaken to set a national strategy for renewable energy and energy efficiency in Lebanon, and in accordance with the requirements of the electricity sector policy paper announced by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) in June 2010, the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) has prepared a complete National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) for Lebanon 2011-2015 to act as a national road map for the implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The action plan includes 14 initiatives of the most feasible options in energy efficiency as well as renewable energy for Lebanon covering demand side management, such as banning of incandescent lamps, promotion of solar water heating and energy service operations, and energy efficient equipment including lighting. The NEEAP also includes renewable energy power generation, through wind power, solar energy, geothermal resources, waste to energy, and hydro power. Initiatives also cover financial and legal support such as the adoption of energy conservation law and the setup of financial incentives on energy efficient equipment.
The 14 initiatives are:
(1) Towards Banning the Import of Incandescent Lamps to Lebanon
(2) Adoption of the Energy Conservation Law and Institutionalization of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) as the National Energy Agency for Lebanon
(3) Promotion of Decentralized Power Generation by PV and Wind Applications in the Residential and Commercial Sectors
(4) Solar Water Heaters for Buildings and Institutions
(5) Design and implementation of a national strategy for efficient and economic public street lighting in Lebanon
(6) Electricity Generation from Wind Power
(7) Electricity Generation from Solar Energy
(8) Hydro Power for Electricity Generation 29
(9) Geothermal, Waste to Energy, and Other Technologies
(10) Building Code for Lebanon
(11) Financing Mechanisms and Incentives
(12) Awareness and Capacity Building
(13) Paving the Way for Energy Audit and ESCO Business
(14) Promotion of Energy Efficient Equipment

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Moving from a low interest in energy efficiency to a more efficient society requires a lot of efforts and obviously faces many problems and obstacles. Starting with the mentality of the public, and then moving to solving the gaps in legislative support to the energy sector.
It was touch at first setting up the energy conservation law and getting the approval of different stakeholders. But after being approved, things went smoother and the responsiveness improved.
Yet, when speaking about Renewable Energies, it is difficult to compete with a highly subsidized tariff set by the Electricity Utility, which required more focus on energy efficiency and more efforts to make RE solutions more sound.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
These initiatives were part of the scope of LCEC. With some support from external experts, the implementation was done and the final form was achieved.
Resources were mobilized through different parties led by the government of Lebanon, UNDP, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Support from the EU and other EU projects was valuable and very beneficial to the implementation of the initiatives.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The implementation of these initiatives was done in a sustainable manner with consideration of future aspects. From the financial, social, and environmental sides, sustainability is ensured.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The implementation of such project could not be possible without the support of the different stakeholders and the close coordination with the ministry of energy and water.
The development of the NEEAP specifically highly depended on the cooperation of different experts, companies, public organizations, and NGOs. With this success the implementation of similar initiative started in other Arab countries following the Lebanese success story.
Experts from Lebanon were invited to present the success of the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Lebanon to Arab partners in an aim to guide them and motivate them to implement a similar initiative in their corresponding countries.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Ministry of Energy and Water
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Pierre Khoury
Title:   Manager of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conserva  
Telephone/ Fax:  
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   pierre.khoury@lcecp.org.lb  
Address:  
Postal Code:  
City:  
State/Province:  
Country:   Lebanon

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