Applications to the ALURE programme
Alure is the programme for energy cooperation between the European Union and Latin America. Its objective is to strengthen the EU's overall economic presence and to promote business links in the energy field. Additionally it is aimed to provide Latin American institutions and utilities with best practices in order to respond effectively and efficiently to the growth in demand for energy. The Commission is calling for applications to the Alure programme in the following key areas: - Facilitating the transitional change between public and private operations in the energy sector; - Supporting institutional change and strengthening national regulatory bodies; - Strengthening national financial markets to fund energy development; - Accelerating natural gas penetration; - Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of electricity and gas companies; - Promoting energy service companies (ESCOs) and independent generation schemes such as cogeneration plants, gas power plants and hydropower plants; - Strengthening energy conservation and demand-side management; - Provide competitive sustainable energy sources to non-commercialised markets in rural areas, by using conventional or renewable energy sources; - Contributing to regional integration of electricity and natural gas markets by promoting the interconnection of electricity and gas grids and introducing suitable mechanisms to adjust regulatory frameworks. The Commission will give priority to schemes directly linked to future investments. Applicants are invited to send a project summary on a standard form before 31 December 2000. After screening these summaries, the Commission will call for detailed proposals from selected projects. These will be studied by an advisory committee after which the Commission services will make the final selection. For further information, please contact: European Commission Alure Support Team Rue Franklinstraat 126 B-1000 Brussels E-mail: info@alure.net URL: http://www.alure.net/