ROGEAP raises awareness and trains national experts in Cotonou on regional standards for off-grid solar PV products

From March 19 to 21, 2024, national experts are in a capacity-building session on the two regional standards for off-grid solar products with a power rating of 350Wp or less, and their laboratory testing methods. The event, which is being held in Cotonou, is an ECOWAS initiative within the framework of the ROGEAP project, to enable national experts to gain a better understanding of the two regional standards for off-grid solar products with a power rating of 350Wp or less, and how they are tested in the laboratory.
Organized by ECOWAS through the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), the workshop specifically aims to explore the quality assurance framework for off-grid solar products, understand the definitions relating to international quality standards and their test methods for off-grid solar systems, understand how to conduct conformity assessment, market surveillance and standards applications through the presentation of international best practices and case studies. Finally, this session will be an opportunity to establish a clear strategy and roadmap to facilitate national implementation of the quality and assurance framework for off-grid solar products. Opening the proceedings, Madame TIBOUTE SAMA Emilie, Deputy Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Commerce, expressed her delight that the conference was being held in Cotonou. A l’en croire, cet atelier de sensibilisation et la formation sur les normes régionales cherche à opérer un changement des attitudes et des pratiques dans le domaine des produits solaires autonomes. “The ROGEAP project is a great opportunity for the country’s various players to equip themselves with essential tools for managing the quality of off-grid solar PV products,” she said. Representing the Secretary of State for Energy, Todéma Assan, Director General of Energy Planning and Regulation, spoke along the same lines, recalling the two standards in question. These include ECOSTAND IEC TS62257-9-8:2020 on renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification, and ECOSTAND IEC TS62257-9-5:2018 on recommendations for renewable energy and hybrid systems for rural electrification. He then expressed his conviction that this workshop would be seized as an opportunity to apply these standards for the well-being of the population. Mr. Amadou DIONGUE, ECOWAS Resident Representative Ambassador to Benin, for his part, thanked the Government of the Republic of Benin, and in particular the Secretary of State for Energy and the Director General of the ANM, for agreeing to sponsor this first national awareness and capacity-building workshop for all national stakeholders on the two regional standards for off-grid solar products up to 350 wp and their laboratory testing method, as part of the implementation of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP). He then outlined the objectives of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project, implemented by the ECOWAS Commission for component 1 (Developing a regional off-grid solar PV market) and by the West African Development Bank (BOAD) for component 2 (Access to Financing). The project, he said, is financed by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Netherlands Government’s Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS), for a total of US$338.7. To improve access to electricity, the ROGEAP project’s mission includes identifying policy barriers affecting the growth of the stand-alone solar energy market, developing a regional quality assurance framework to facilitate the supply of stand-alone solar products, and promoting quality standards in the project countries to help them develop a Quality Assurance (QA) framework for off-grid solar PV systems, particularly for institutional applications such as health facilities, schools and public administration offices to ensure the long-term performance of these systems.