Assessing the Greenhouse Gas Impact of a Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff Policy in Mozambique: Towards NDC Ambition and Recommendations to Effectively Measure, Report, and Verify Its Implementation

Emília Inês Come Zebra,Gilberto Mahumane,Federico Antonio Canu,Ana Cardoso

doi:10.3390/su13105376

Abstract

Parties to the Paris Agreement (PA) have agreed on the goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C and are pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5 °C. Countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) comprise the main framework used to achieve this. In this context, Mozambique′s NDC includes, amongst other actions, increased renewable energy (RE) generation. This article presents the results of the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT), using the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system model, in order to determine its potential contribution to Mozambique′s NDC’s goals and RE targets. Results from this study show that the REFIT regulation can be expected to contribute to reducing 0.34 MtCO2eq (0.6% of the NDC target for the electricity sector) by 2030, compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. However, the NDC ambition could be enhanced through the REFIT and contribute to reducing 2.54 MtCO2eq (4.3% of the NDC target for the electricity sector) by 2030. The article further discusses the requirements for a robust measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for climate policies, using REFIT as a case study, to facilitate effective tracking of NDC progress and achievement and transparent reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Highlights

Mozambique ranks as the country with the largest power generation potential in the southern African region
The two main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from electricity generation in Mozambique are coal and natural gas
This article presents an assessment of the contribution of a Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (REFIT) policy to reducing

Summary

Introduction

Mozambique ranks as the country with the largest power generation potential in the southern African region. Feed-in tariffs are considered to be effective RE policy instruments to attract private investments for the deployment of RE projects [16] They are gaining increasing attention and have been adopted by many countries as an instrument that obliges the national utility companies to purchase energy produced by independent power producers (IPPs) at a specific preferential price per kWh over a fixed period, providing investors with incentives to participate in the RE subsector by ensuring returns of their investments [17,18]. In Europe, the UK, Denmark, Germany, and Spain are the first countries that have successfully implemented feed-in tariff (FIT) regulations This is evident through the increased number of renewable energy developments, despite some challenges in the initial stage [19,20]. In Australia, several government bodies have enacted FIT schemes whereby

Methods

Results

Conclusion