– {Norway} can help poor countries to go straight into the renewable age rather than relying on fossil fuels, says MP Eva Kristin Hansen {Ap} to {NTB}. The main focus for the development of renewable energy is in Ethiopia, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nepal and East Timor.
In this frame, the government investment company Norfund receives new funds for investments in renewable energy. {Centre Party} parliamentary leader Lars Peder Brekk also points out that electricity can provide jobs and new business development in poor countries. –
– These countries deserve the opportunity to avail themselves of their renewable resources. Here Norway can contribute expertise and capital, says Brekk.
Nepal is one of the countries who implemented the program for rural energy. Last year, the program contributed 21,000 households to receive electricity from micro-generation. Furthermore, 52,000 households have received electricity from solar plants and 103,000 families have obtained improved stoves. Approximately 40 percent of the results are attributed to Norwegian funding. In Liberia, Norway has also helped to repair and expand the power grid, which was completely ruined during the civil war from 1989 to 2003.