Capacity Building Workshop on Renewable Energy Zoning

IRENA, with the technical assistance of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), has identified high potential cost effective zones for renewable power generation within the countries of the eastern and the southern Africa power pools. The zoning study involved the development of a zoning methodology and incorporation of multiple data sets into the eventual identification of the zones. In order for countries to be able to independently carry out future zoning studies, alter assumptions and criteria used in the process, and update the renewable energy zones as power infrastructure develops, IRENA organized a training workshop, which brought together representatives from research institutions, regulatory authorities, utility and ministries of energy. The zoning results are available for viewing and download on mapre.lbl.gov.

Under the first action pillar of the Africa Clean Energy Corridor, renewable energy zones for solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar power and wind were identified for the countries within the Eastern and Southern Africa power pool region. IRENA organised a technical workshop to analyse the renewable energy zoning study in more detail – particularly outlining the zoning methodology, assumptions and criteria used and to train participants to process the raw data in ArcGIS software and adjust input parameters. It enabled countries to independently carry out future zoning studies and update the renewable energy zones accordingly.