WESF plays a role in promoting standardization and eliminating global trade barriers.
As the urgency for climate action intensifies, e-tech sat down with Jaidev Dhavle, Associate Programme Officer at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He shares his insights on promising renewable energy (RE) technologies, prioritizing climate action amidst geopolitical fluctuations, and the importance of international collaboration and standards to stay on track for a clean energy transition.
Photo credit: WIPO
What are the key focus areas for IRENA’s work?
At its core, IRENA’s mandate is to support countries in the adoption of renewable energy technologies. There are two aspects to it – the first is to raise awareness on available technologies to accelerate a cleaner energy transition. Solar and wind technologies tend to be the most cited due to their maturity. But we’re also raising awareness around a variety of other options including offshore wind, bioenergy, geothermal energy, and leveraging the ocean’s potential. We are trying to shine a light on a mix of technologies because every country has access to different resources.
The second approach is to focus on key “end-use” sectors that can benefit from a greener model. At the Innovation and Technology Centre in Bonn that I’m a part of, there are five end-use areas that are of key interest: steel, chemicals, aviation, shipping, and finally promoting the adoption of electric vehicles and energy storage solutions. The objective is to marry these two aspects – of growth in various renewable energy technologies and translating their use towards the greening of these end-use sectors. It is only through a combination of both, that we can achieve a sustainable energy transition.
How can standards and conformity assessment be used for climate action?
We are collaborating with institutions like the IEC to raise awareness about the importance of standards and certification. These standards provide a level playing field in the energy sector for every entity to participate, fostering consensus on best practices through international cooperation.
The international standardization process harnesses international cooperation to come to an agreed recommendation. By design, if entities are participating in the standards development process and/or using international standards, then they are already conforming to a consensus-driven international best practice.
I am myself often amazed at the number of standards and services that exist – and it can be easily overwhelming! We need to make these services, including conformity assessment, more accessible and guide decision-makers on industry priorities. The IEC, IRENA and other related organizations are crucial to keeping policymakers and decision makers in various economies aware of what developments are happening in this space.
Is the intermittency of some renewable energies a challenge that needs to be addressed?
We are investigating numerous options around power flexibility and scaling up battery storage to efficiently balance the intermittency of renewable energy sources. Innovative setups are being explored where electric vehicles can serve as options for battery storage. We are also working hard to dispel the notion that critical materials for these technologies are scarce. This isn’t true, as was proven by a recent analysis that IRENA published in November last year. In the analysis, we make a case that that the world has enough critical materials to contribute towards battery developments and contribute towards balancing the grid and the acceleration of electric vehicle (EV) technology development.
Then there is green hydrogen, on which IRENA and the IEC have recently been collaborating. Green hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used for more environmentally friendly processes in sectors like steel and chemicals production. It also has a potential for application and use within the aviation and shipping industries. We encourage policymakers to consider investing in green hydrogen projects and through that initiate a feed-in loop contributing towards greening these derivative sectors. The work that needs to be done is making all these options accessible to different countries, setting up the right supply chains and recognizing mutual value in international collaboration.
How close are we to powering the world with just renewable energy?
There is enough potential to allow the world to run fully on clean energy by 2050. Our latest reports found 2023 to be a record year for renewable power deployment, with 473 GW of renewable power generation capacity being added to the global energy mix. China, the EU and the US, collectively accounted for 83% of these new additions. At the same time, we are missing out on renewable growth opportunities in emerging and developing economies. Only around 2% of renewable investments are made in Africa, despite the huge potential across the region.
To accelerate the global transition, this issue must be addressed. For instance, improvement of the energy planning capacities in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) is key. The Brazilian G20 Global Coalition of Energy Planning hosted by IRENA may be an initiative that could help to secure financial flows in EMDEs.
In 2023, total renewable capacity accounted for 3,9 TW or 43 % out of the 9,0 TW of global total capacity. It indicates an unprecedented 14% increase from 2022. But we are off track if we want to increase the pace of progress in time to maintain the scenario of limiting global average temperature rise to 1,5 degrees. To meet the set clean energy ambitions, the world needs to level up to triple its renewable power capacity to around 11 TW by 2030. The important thing to note is that tripling renewable power capacity by 2030 is both technically feasible and economically viable, but it requires commitment, policy support and investment at scale.
Amidst competing concerns around pandemics, wars or poverty – how should countries prioritize sustainability?
Every single problem that you mentioned, actually has a “climate change” connection to it. Surges in new infectious diseases can get a stronger foothold with extreme environmental and biodiversity changes. It can cause scarcity in resources, food production, water or other valuable assets. Products and communities impacted by it have an increased chance of conflict. And all of this inevitably contributes to poverty exacerbation – energy poverty, food poverty, water poverty – among others, resulting in widening economic gaps.
Addressing climate change can have positive spillover effects on other challenges. Greater emphasis on climate change can help in managing resource scarcity and fostering international cooperation. It is important to remember that climate change is not going away on its own – and none of us can escape its inextricable impact.
We are observing the impacts of climate change happening around us - in our daily lives we’re experiencing the effects of climate extremities and, at more macro levels, there are increased occurrences of wildfires, rising ocean levels, and growing pollution. Raising awareness and acknowledging the interconnectedness of these issues is crucial. By focusing on climate action, we solve one of the world’s biggest challenges, and at the same time tackle multiple global problems that have backlinks with climate change.
How are the current policy shifts by influential countries impacting the renewable energy market?
In the current geopolitical paradigm, there is a clear shift in the perception of the clean energy transition. There are economies which are looking to bolster oil and gas development rather than divest and increase investments in renewable energy technologies.
However, despite these changes, other countries are demonstrating that it is possible to have industries and economic sectors be driven sustainably by renewable energy technologies. Emerging economies are also developing their capacities in technologies such as offshore wind, green hydrogen, and battery electric vehicles.
Different economies are at different techno-economic development stages and despite current geopolitical configurations, it's important that countries leverage their unique capacities to maintain momentum in the energy transition. By developing the right supply chain capacities, collaboration can benefit everyone in the long term. Countries, especially emerging ones, can position themselves competitively and contribute to a just and inclusive transition.
Emerging economies can’t simply react to international perception amidst global instability. While reacting to short-term developments, these countries also need to keep the medium term and long-term goals in sight. IRENA's role here is to serve as a platform for global dialogue; to keep the discussion on the energy transition going despite changes in national perceptions on the topic.
What actions should countries prioritize to aid goals of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030? How will discussions at COP 30 help?
We need to concentrate on modernizing and expanding physical infrastructure; providing policy and regulatory support; and ensure skills development so that workers are fit for the renewables era. One of the key things IRENA and other organizations are trying to do is to convince countries that we can't operate in a “business as usual” mode.
We need to ramp up deployment and access to clean energy technologies to realize a sustainable energy transition. Several reports from IRENA and other organizations continue to show that the world is still subsidizing and supporting the oil and gas industry. You can’t have the needed impact on energy transition if despite the additions of renewable energy, the oil and gas sectors continue to be invested in. Sooner or later countries need to divest from the traditional energy resources sources and really try to mainstream renewable energy utility scale projects.
But I am quite optimistic. Especially as technologies like solar PV and onshore wind are quite mature now. Our competitiveness report, and cost reports show that they are actually more economical compared to oil and gas. It's really just a matter of building the associated infrastructure around these technologies to make them more accessible to end users and consumers.
This year, countries will update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to mitigate emissions at COP 30. NDCs are formal communication modalities from countries outlining their climate goals and serve as accountability mechanisms. COP 30, hosted by Brazil – again an influential voice for impacting the renewable energy landscape – will gather the international community in a concerted effort for the energy transition despite current challenges, with collaboration driving the global energy agenda forward. It will also be an opportunity to get financial support from banks, multilateral agencies and private investors for clean energy projects.
You mention skills for the RE sector – can you tell us more?
It is an often-overlooked fact that IRENA is also trying to raise awareness around skills development in the energy sector. A key conduit for governments and stakeholders to keep the RE momentum going is actually training people to understand the benefits of a clean energy sector, and what skills they can gain or transfer to contribute to a renewable energy industry. Let’s take the offshore wind industry. This sector has leveraged historical knowledge of what was being used in the offshore oil and gas industry.
A lot of the skillsets that you have in developing offshore oil and gas are transferable to the renewable energy space. How do you conduct a proper site assessment? Where can the turbine foundation be located? What are the construction techniques that can be employed to construct the offshore wind turbine? Looking to the future, developing AI and digital capabilities is going to apply to RE space, like in any other industry.