Renewable Energy Technology Project Development Guideline Initiative
On the sidelines of the fourth Council meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on 12-13 November in Abu Dhabi, member countries presented development guidelines for an initiative to support renewable energy technology (RET) developers in project planning and implementation. The vision, concept and objectives of the RET Project Development Guideline Initiative were introduced for discussion.
A transparent and explicit development process helps to generate bankable project proposals, thus supporting accelerated deployment of renewable energy technologies worldwide. IRENA’s guidelines conduct RET project developers through a pre-defined process and provide users with the tools, case studies and best practices needed to successfully complete the project development stage. Interactive functions, the Project Navigator and Financial Navigator, allow the exchange of experiences, ideas and updates to the Guidelines and the Navigators.
The guidelines, while based on technical processes, also take into consider non-technical aspects to ensure bankable proposals. IRENA member country representatives provided feedback on the value added of the initiative and their potential contributions to the guidelines. Participants asked to be informed about the proposed list of case studies and discussed how to integrate risk management and distribution among different stakeholders, such as owners, contractors and consultants. They also stressed the significance of clear and consistent definitions of stakeholders and recipients of the RET Project Development Guideline Initiative.
Finally, participants at the 13 November workshop highlighted the importance of involving the whole project development community, including financial institutions and utilities, from the early stages of guideline development, in order to facilitate regional and national coordination and matchmaking. They also proposed creating a platform for communication and coordination on RET project development and financing. It was agreed to continue strengthening discussions and cooperation with member states through, mainly through questionnaires and project workshops, with the modalities of engagement to be elaborated further by the IRENA Secretariat in the coming months.