MARGE provides GIZ with one of the three key experts of the DESIREE MESTA programme core team, the Key Electrification Expert. The DESIREE programme (Demand Side Management, Social Infrastructures and Renewable Energy Expansion) is a five-year "blending" programme, financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), aimed at providing a programmatic intervention. The DESIREE MESTA component, implemented by GIZ since May 2024, seeks to overcome barriers by providing Technical Assistance to energy investments by focusing on three main areas:
- Establishing and operationalizing Super-Energy Service Companies (super-ESCOs) to manage large energy efficiency projects.
- Implementing Demand-Side Management (DSM) through utility companies in lower-middle income countries.
- De-risking private sector business models for sustainable electrification of social infrastructure (RESI) in specific countries, including solar energy solutions and energy efficiency measures
DESIREE MESTA aims at delivering high-level technical assistance and policy, legal and regulatory advice at country level through expert missions. The programme is planned to cover actions in several low- and middle-income countries in Africa (Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda), Asia (Cambodia, India) and Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador), but implementation of the programme activities in other countries may follow.