ABU DHABI // The world’s first clean-energy body, based in Abu Dhabi, is successfully making its case for renewables heard around the globe.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) was officially established on April 4, 2011, following a three-year preparation period that included the selection of Abu Dhabi as its host.
Ahead of its anniversary, Dr Adnan Amin, Irena’s director general, reflected on its growing impact and work on addressing challenges such as the lack of financing for renewable-energy projects.
Irena has grown from having 64 member countries in 2011 to 130, with another 37 in the process of joining. China is among its members.
“They [China] are probably the biggest market in renewable energy right now, the fastest-growing in wind and solar, huge potential for growth, huge resources and very interested in international cooperation and engagement,” said Dr Amin.
Irena’s growing membership showed governments were becoming more aware of climate change and rising energy demands, as well as the economic opportunities in developing renewables, he said.
“Renewable energy has emerged as a major possibility for transition to a more sustainable world, based on environmental sustainability, the prospect of economic growth, and in terms of energy security and energy independence, which is becoming more and more relevant in so many countries,” said Dr Amin.
Through its renewables readiness assessment initiative, Irena is working with 18 developing countries to assess factors such as the technical potential of resources, existing energy-sector policies and regulations, and the infrastructure needed to connect more renewable energy to power grids.
Dr Amin said the initiative had been “phenomenally successful” and eight more countries were waiting to start their own assessment.
“It has led to changes in legislation and policy in over a dozen countries that are very significant and has resulted in increasing investment in those countries,” he said.
Another key project has been the creation of a costing database to compare clean-energy technologies with fossil-based ones.
It found “dramatic declines” in solar-energy costs, and sustained drops in wind, hydro and geothermal energy costs, which were already among the most cost-competitive sources in the world, he said.
And increasingly around the world, wind and solar energy had become cost-competitive compared with conventional energy sources, said Dr Amin.
However, funding availability remains a major challenge for renewable projects.
“What we are seeing right now is that the political risk and policy risk premium attached to renewable-energy investment is unrealistically high and financing is higher than for other types of energy,” said Irena’s chief.
“We are working on analysing possibilities for establishing new financial mechanisms that can draw down the cost.
“We believe that will be a breakthrough where if we are able to get the technology, the financing and the cost in line, the growth in renewable energy is going to be exponential.”
Irena is preparing to relocate to Masdar City before the end of the year. Its new headquarters will rely on a solar thermal system for most of its hot-water needs, while solar panels will generate as much as 8.5 per cent of its energy requirement.
“We are very excited about it because, first of all, it is an extraordinary gesture for a country to make available a building of that iconic character to an international organisation,” said Dr Amin. “[And] because it is going to be one of the most efficient and possibly one of the most beautiful buildings around.”
vtodorova@thenational.ae
