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Cabeolica Wins Ashden World Award
World's leading wind power project wins prestigious 2013 Ashden Prize
(London) The Cabo Verdean company Cabeólica has just won the prestigious Ashden 2013 award, the world's leading award for green energy. The public-private partnership has been recognized for its pioneering work in generating wind energy in an island state.
Cabeolica was distinguished in the Small Island Developing States category at a ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The award was presented by S. Vijay Iyer, Director of the World Bank's Sustainable Energy Department and was received by Cabeolica's CEO, Eng. Anthony Strong.
Small island states around the world face dependency on imported fuel, compounding high raw material and import costs. The creation of wind farms in Cape Verde made it possible to make the most of the abundant wind from the Sahara by transforming it into energy, which was reflected in a significant reduction in the cost of importing diesel and in a considerable increase in its energy security.
During the first year of activity, the wind farms, with an installed capacity of 25.5MW, generated more than a fifth of the electricity used by the four main
islands of the country – reaching more than 30% in two of the islands. Thus, Cape Verde is leading the way among small island states in wind power generation.
Antão Fortes, CEO of Cabeolica said:
“It is very gratifying that Cabeólica has been selected, among several candidates, and that it is now the winner of the Ashden Award for Small Island Developing States. It is an international recognition of our work and dedication.”
“We see this award as consolidating that the project went beyond the standards, exceeding expectations, in a search for the best solutions for the supply of sustainable energy in Cape Verde – we managed to transform an abundant local resource into clean energy, contributing significantly to the development of the country and for the well-being of Cape Verdeans.”
S. Vijay Iyer, Director of the Sustainable Energy Department at the World Bank said:
“Small island developing countries around the world face major challenges, including limited resources, isolation, susceptibility to natural disasters and vulnerability to external shocks. I congratulate Cabeolica for showing us that small islands can manage to increase their resilience and protect their natural resources. I hope that other countries can learn from your innovation and determination, with new business strategies and solutions to the challenges of island states”.
arah Butler-Sloss, Founding Director of Ashden stated:
“The rate that Cape Verde has achieved in the production of wind energy, as well as its energy matrix, has been truly impressive. This project shows other countries around the world what small islands can achieve by making the most of their natural resources.”
The Ashden Awards were founded in 2001 to encourage greater use of sustainable energy, contributing to reducing poverty and combating climate change.
“The Ashden Awards for Small Island Developing States were launched this year with support from the World Bank and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) through the SIDS DOCK program.”
The other winner of this award was D & E Green Enterprises from Haiti while the other finalists were Green Power from Vanuatu and the National Development Bank of Palau.
Ana Monteiro – Head of Environment, Social and Administrative Department at Cabeolica
S. Vijay Iyer – Director of the Sustainable Energy Department at the World Bank
Antão Fortes – Chief Executive Officer of Cabeolica
Editors' Notes
1. The Ashden Awards were established in 2001 to promote practical, local energy solutions that lower carbon footprints, protect the environment, reduce poverty and improve people's lives. Since then we have awarded and supported over 140 winners across the UK and the developing world. Find more information at www.ashden.org
2. Since 2001, Ashden Prize winners have improved the lives of over 33 million people around the world and are currently saving over 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
3. Winners of the 2013 Small Island Developing States Awards will receive £20,000 in cash, as well as business support, access to investors and a global platform to build their business profile.
4. It is estimated that 1.4 billion people worldwide do not have access to modern energy, while 3 billion depend on traditional biomass and coal as their main sources of fuel.