The so called Energy and Environment Partnership programme, funded by the Finnish ministry of Foreign Affairs, eight other partner countries and the Development Bank of Southern Africa was launched in Dar es Salaam.

Under such initiative East and Southern African renewable energy developers can get support of up to €200,000 each for carrying out feasibility studies and pilot projects.

Mr Heikki Hail, the minister counsellor at the Finnish Embassy, said that these projects were crucial at times when the energy consumption was continuing to rise worldwide and issues related to climate change were deepening.

Finland will contribute €8.5 million to approve projects over the next three years to the eight partner countries — South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia.

Out of the 120 project proposals made last month during the first call for entries, only 12 of them were from Tanzania. More proposals from Tanzania are expected during the second call sometime in September 2010.

Tanzania’s commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Mr Bashir Mrindoko, urged interested parties to submit thoroughly worked-out and innovative proposals to get support.