El Salvador joins SEforALL initiative

El Salvador is the latest country to join the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative, bringing the number of partner countries to 106 plus the European Union. On July 7 2015, El Salvador’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Carmen Maria Gallardo Hernández, handed over a letter from Foreign Minister Hugo Martínez expressing the government’s interest in joining the SEforALL initiative and nominating the National Energy Council (CNE) as the SEforALL focal institution. In 2007 the governments of Central America approved the Central American Sustainable Energy Strategy 2020 to promote the sustainable development of the region’s energy sector. It aims to secure sustainable energy supply, improve energy efficiency, increase investments in renewable energy, cut hydrocarbon use, and develop common rules for greater energy integration in the region. As of 1st of July, El Salvador will hold the chairmanship of the Central American Integration System (SICA - Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana) for six months. This is a great opportunity to give impetus to sustainable energy projects in Central America. SEforALL is already in discussion with El Salvador on the possibility of developing local and sub-regional energy efficiency projects, and an energy efficiency capacity-building event is planned for the first week of October 2015.