Carbon Project Management

• Carbon Project Support

The Bureau provides a full range of support services to projects that are planning to develop and sell carbon credits in both the voluntary and CDM markets. Initial advice is provided free, subsequent assistance is provided on very competitive terms, and the Bureau's team is one of the largest and most experienced in Africa.

The Bureau draws upon a growing network of links with international partners and funding groups to combine advice on carbon asset commercialisation with access to debt and equity project finance. From its base in East Africa the Bureau is able to support its clients with low cost solutions without the add-ons of international travel and hotel costs. Staff fee rates are substantially lower than those of European firms, and specialists are available at short notice for frequent close-support meetings. Combining its team of international staff with a growing local recruitment and intern programme, plus a wide network of local associates, gives the Bureau a unique local perspective. 

Most project developers require consistent and patient support from the initial stages of understanding their carbon credit earning potential, through to successful credit issuance. The Bureau's local presence allows such continuous professional advice to be sustained.

The Bureau's advice is independent of any affiliations with carbon brokers or buyers, and the Bureau is not a buyer of carbon credits, thereby maintaining its role as a carbon service provider with a sole focus on protecting its clients' best interests. The Bureau is committed to maximising the share of carbon revenues reaching the actual generators of the emission reductions, and works with local DNA offices to achieve such a fair trade outcome.

• Our Projects

The Bureau is developing a range of carbon projects using the CDM Programme of Activities (PoA) mechanism.  Below is information on our most advanced PoA projects, we have several more in the pipeline and will post information on them as they are developed.

ICSEA - Improved Cook Stoves for East Africa

The Improved Cook Stoves for East Africa (ICSEA) PoA provides easy access to the CDM carbon market for supplier organisations across East Africa and beyond. These products are more energy efficient and will result in reducing the consumption of non-renewable biomass. The creation of a thriving market for improved cook stoves, where customers have the choice to buy new stoves at affordable prices, will benefit everybody. Improved stove suppliers can be local manufacturers or distributors, as well as importers of stoves. Interest in distributing stoves is being shown by many NGOs, cooperatives, faith and community groups operating in the host countries that are part of the ICSEA PoA.

The aim of the PoA is to help improved cook stove projects to earn the maximum amount of carbon finance from their energy saving activities, in the quickest and cheapest way. All projects keep 100% of their carbon credits. ICSEA Ltd is not a broker, and will not purchase projects' carbon credits, but it may support projects with their carbon credit sales contracts. The PoA was registered in August 2012.

The implementation of the ICSEA PoA involves three crucial steps:

1. Measuring the efficiency of improved stoves
2. Ensuring that local manufacturers and importers can comply with the rules of the CDM
3. Creating a monitoring plan based on the approved baseline and monitoring methodologies (both CDM and Gold Standard), and the guidelines on sampling and surveys of the CDM

In addition to the emission reduction benefits of improved cookstoves, they also help to reduce deforestation and improve people’s lives by:

• Reducing diseases caused by indoor air pollution
• Reducing the time and money spent on obtaining fuel wood
• Stimulating employment in the stove industry

Project collaborators include:

• GIZ
• GIZ/CIM
• Centre for Research in Energy & Energy Conservation (CREEC)
• Care Denmark
• International Lifeline Fund
• DFID
• Nordic Climate Facility

Click here to see the project flyer.

A young schoolgirl demonstrates how she prepares meals outdoors over an improved cookstove - a drastic improvement in terms of health and fuel consumption compared to the traditional 3-stone fire.

SPEAR – Sustainable Promotion of East African Renewables

The SPEAR PoA has been initiated by the Bureau, and will provide access to the CDM carbon market for grid-connected renewable energy projects of any size in four countries in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi). SPEAR Ltd has been registered in Uganda, and will be the Coordinating/Managing Entity (CME) of this PoA.

This is now in advanced registration under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). An unlimited number of eligible projects right across East Africa can be included under the SPEAR CDM registration. SPEAR members pay a joining fee and an annual subscription fee. Every project retains all its carbon credits, and can sell them to whoever it wants. SPEAR will also provide a grouped carbon credit sales service, so that projects can get the best prices in the carbon market.

Projects that are SPEAR PoA members will provide power to villages, businesses and industries, supplying reliable electricity to help spur local economic development throughout East Africa, and will displace energy sources with higher greenhouse gas emissions. The PoA has recenly been widened with a CDM methodology combination and now covers projects of any size. Projects using one of a range of technologies are covered -  hydro, geothermal, wind and solar projects can use the SPEAR PoA to earn carbon credits.

The Bureau has a history of involvement with hydro power projects in Uganda. Our largest assignment to date was the restructuring of two hydro power projects. The German development bank KfW has supported the SPEAR PoA’s design and establishment. The PoA will be fully operational in 2014, so project developers with schemes that are likely to start major work in 2014 should contact the Bureau now.

Project collaborators have included:

• GIZ/CIM
• South Pole Carbon Asset Management
• KfW PoA Support Centre

 Click here to see the project flyer

ACES-Biogas - African Clean Energy Switch - Biogas

ACES-Biogas is a carbon finance Programme of Activities umbrella that will help projects that disseminate biogas systems to households and institutions to access carbon finance. It covers three countries of the East African Community (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda) plus Ethiopia. ACES-Biogas Ltd is the Coordinating/Managing Entity of the PoA and operates under the rules of the CDM and the Gold Standard. The developemnt of the PoA structure has been supported by Hivos with funding from the Dutch government. The PoA was registered with the CDM in December 2012. The African Biogas Partnership Programme (ABPP) is an early user of the PoA.

The aim of the PoA is to help biogas projects to earn the maximum amount of carbon finance from their clean energy activities, in the quickest and cheapest way. Each project keeps 100% of its carbon credits. ACES-Biogas is not a broker, and will not purchase projects' carbon credits, but it may support projects with their carbon credit sales contracts. The PoA operates along fair trade lines, and is open to any eligible suppliers of biogas systems.

Project collaborators include:

• Hivos
• Dutch Government
• African Biogas Partnership Programme
• SNV

Click here to see the project flyer.

Other Programmes of Activities

The Bureau has a pipeline of other multi-country PoAs under development with a growing number of international partners, covering wastewater, forestry, fuel switch, energy efficiency, and energy from biomass waste.

The Bureau is keen to develop other PoAs with new partners, and is open to proposals from interested parties and potential sponsors of this work.