IRENA Insights

Monday, 9 December 2024, 13:00 – 13:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Green Hydrogen Auctions: A Guide to Design”

Competitive public procurement is emerging as a tool to promote green hydrogen production and use. Auctions are a powerful tool to allocate funding that offers long-term revenue certainty, allows for long-term budgetary planning, and enables technological learning curve progress. The competitive nature of auctions can enable true price discovery, revealing feasible remuneration for producers and costs to consumers and minimizing the overall cost of public support.

Drawing upon lessons learned from renewable power auctions, the report Green Hydrogen Auctions: A Guide to Design has been developed to guide policymakers in designing auctions to deploy green hydrogen to achieve defined policy objectives. The webinar focused on supply-side auctions and detail the design elements to consider, classified into five main categories: auction demand, qualification requirements and documentation, location, technology and project specifications, winner selection, and risk allocation and seller remuneration.

Featured speakers:

• Diala Hawila, Programme Officer, Policy Advice, KPFC, IRENA
• Fabian Wigand, Senior Director Energy, Tetra Tech

Tuesday, 1 October 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023”

In 2023, the global weighted average cost of electricity from newly commissioned utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV), onshore wind, offshore wind, concentrating solar power, and hydropower fell. IRENA annual Renewable Power Generation Costs report presents key insights into the latest trends in installed costs, capacity factors, and the levelised cost of electricity from renewable energy technologies in 2023 and highlights:

• The competitiveness of renewable energy technologies remains despite fossil fuel prices returning closer to the historical cost range.
• The remarkable growth of renewables in 2023 is a demonstration of the virtuous cycle involving technology improvements, cost reductions and long-term support policies.
• China's significant share in the solar PV, onshore wind, offshore wind, and hydropower markets contributed to the decline in the global weighted average costs for these technologies. While other technologies have experienced different cost dynamics.
• The new renewable capacity added since 2000 is estimated to have reduced electricity sector fuel costs in 2023 by at least USD 409 billion, showcasing the benefits renewable power can provide in terms of energy security.
• For the first time, the report includes groundbreaking insights into battery storage, a crucial enabler for the energy transition.

Featured speakers:

• Deborah Ayres, Associate Programme Officer, Renewable Energy Costs and Outlook
• Lourdes Zamora, Associate Professional, Renewable Energy Costs and Outlook

Tuesday, 23 July 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“The energy transition in Africa: Opportunities for international collaboration with a focus on the G7”

Africa, despite its abundant renewable resources, faces a significant energy access deficit, with three-quarters of the population lacking access. The continent has received less than 2% of global investments in renewable energy over the last two decades. There are huge opportunities to support African-led initiatives, that play a crucial role in addressing these challenges by increasing investment in infrastructure, enabling access to finance, expanding energy access, helping to manage critical minerals, and strengthening institutional frameworks. This webinar aimed to present findings from a recent report highlighting the areas for collaboration between African nations and G7 countries to drive the energy transition. It built on existing initiatives – acknowledging, and learning from, the work that has already been done. It highlighted the importance of finance partnerships to mobilize the necessary finance for infrastructure and ensure local ownership and value creation in the energy transition in Africa.

Featured speakers:

• Asami Miketa, Head Energy Transition Planning and Power Sector Transformation
• Nolwazi Khumalo, Programme Officer, Energy Planning Support and Capacity Building
• Diala Hawila, Programme Officer, Policy Advice
• Isaac Elizondo Garcia, Consultant, Critical Materials for WETO

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 16 July 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Decarbonising Hard-to-Abate Sectors: A Pivotal Role for the G7”

Achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5^°C requires the rapid decarbonisation of all economic sectors by 2050. Heavy-duty trucking, shipping, aviation, iron and steel, chemicals and petrochemicals are particularly challenging due to their physical, technological, or market-specific circumstances. These sectors account for about one-quarter of global energy consumption and one-fifth of CO2 emissions.

This webinar presented findings from a recent IRENA report, requested by the 2024 Italian G7 Presidency, highlighting the crucial role the G7 can play in accelerating the decarbonisation of these hard-to-abate sectors. The session explored these sectors' decarbonisation status, pathways, and progress, addressing cross-cutting challenges and solutions. It provided recommendations on how the G7 can create enabling conditions to implement these solutions, emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and energy efficiency in reducing emissions and driving the global energy transition.

Featured speakers:

• Carlos Ruiz, Programme Officer, Innovation and End-Use Sectors

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“IRENA National Energy Transition Planning Dashboard”

The IRENA National Energy Transition Planning Dashboard is a global repository of official energy planning documents and modelling tools developed and/or used by governmental institutions for official planning purposes. It provides information for government planners, enabling them to benchmark their practices against their peers and learn about the activities of their counterparts.

The data in the dashboard was partly collected through surveys shared with government officials and complemented through desktop research where necessary. The Dashboard currently features 113 National Planning Documents from 73 countries and is constantly expanding.

Featured speakers:

• Angela Mutsotso, Associate Professional, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios
• Juan Jose Garcia, Programme Officer, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Monday, 18 March 2024, 9:30 – 10:00 CET | 12:30 – 13:00 GST

“Scenarios for the Energy Transition: Experiences and good practices in Africa”

African nations use long-term scenarios and energy planning tools to inform national planning. When the right institutional framework is in place, good planning can, among others: create a consensus among key stakeholders; reduce uncertainties in policy direction and project selection; attract and accelerate investment and service delivery; and avoid costly stop-gap solutions or investment mistakes.

The Scenarios for the energy transition: Experience and good practices in Africa report summarizes the presentations and discussions during the Long-Term Energy Scenarios (LTES) for Developing National Energy Transition Plans in Africa webinar series. It presents key findings and recommendations that are broadly relevant to African countries, as well as to stakeholders attempting to improve their planning processes across the world.

The webinar series was hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with regional implementation partners, including the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), GET. Transform, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Ministry of Energy of Kenya and the African Union Commission.

Featured speakers:

• Angela Mutsotso, Associate Professional, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios
• Juan Jose Garcia, Programme Officer, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 20 February 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 17:00 – 17:30 GST

“International trade and green hydrogen”

Renewable energy, particularly green hydrogen, stands as a critical element in the transition away from fossil fuels, addressing challenges in sectors like industrial processes, shipping, and aviation. The webinar explores the nexus between trade policies and the development of green hydrogen markets, based on the recent joint report between the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The session highlighted the potential of international trade in balancing supply and demand for green hydrogen and the role of trade policies in fostering the development of green hydrogen supply chains, acknowledging the significance of global collaboration. It also explored the challenges and opportunities presented to developing economies by green hydrogen and its derivatives, emphasizing the need for harmonized regulatory frameworks to stimulate technology development, enhance transparency, and fuel market growth.

Featured speakers:

• Svetlana Chobanova, Legal Officer, Trade and Environment Division, WTO
• Luis Janeiro, Team Lead, End-use sectors, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 6 February 2024, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 17:00 – 17:30 GST

“Offshore Wind Energy Patent Insights Report”

Renewables represent key solutions to decelerate the impacts of climate change and limit global warming to 1.5^°C. Offshore wind has witnessed a surge of interest from the energy community to support the decarbonisation of energy systems and end-use sectors, owing to its considerable energy potential and cost-competitiveness. This patent insight report on innovation trends in the offshore wind supply chain, jointly prepared by the European Patent Office (EPO) and IRENA, assesses patent statistics to reveal technological trends in the offshore wind industry.

Patent filing statistics provide insightful indicators for measuring and examining innovation, commercialisation and knowledge transfer trends across international markets. They also provide meaningful information on changes in technology trends and make it easier to identify new players or consolidation efforts. All in all, this report aims to shed light on how key technological challenges are being addressed via innovation.

The report serves as an important resource for policymakers, technologists, companies, and investors who wish to gain new perspectives on the development trends that have occurred in the offshore wind industry over the past two decades. Furthermore, the analysis within demonstrates the utility of patent data in identifying innovation and invention trends in the offshore wind industry.

Featured speakers:

• Jaidev Dhavle, Associate Programme Officer, IRENA
• Geert Boedt, Business Analyst, EPO

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Thursday, 7 November 2023, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 17:00 – 17:30 GST

“Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2022”

In 2022, the global weighted average cost of electricity from newly commissioned utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV), onshore wind, concentrating solar power (CSP), bioenergy and geothermal all fell. This was despite rising materials and equipment costs. China was the key driver of the global decline in costs for solar PV and onshore wind, with other markets experiencing a much more heterogeneous set of outcomes that saw costs increase in many major markets. The fossil fuel price crisis of 2022 was a telling reminder of the powerful economic benefits that renewable power can provide in terms of energy security.

IRENA presented key insights of its annual Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2022 report, with insights into the latest trends in installed costs, capacity factors and the levelised cost of electricity for renewable energy technologies and highlight:

• The unprecedented benefits from renewables in 2022, given the fossil fuel price crisis.
• The new renewable capacity added since 2000 is estimated to have reduced electricity sector fuel costs in 2022 by at least USD 521 billion.
• Due to soaring fossil fuel prices, the 2021-2022 period saw one of the largest improvements in the competitiveness of renewable power in the last two decades.

Featured speaker:

• Michael Taylor, Head, Renewable Energy Costs and Outlook

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 30 May 2023, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Long-term energy scenarios and low-emission development strategies”

Long-term energy scenarios (LTES) play a crucial role in guiding national energy policy towards a cleaner, more sustainable, and renewable-based system. Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries have started to develop climate and development strategies in the form of long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS). IRENA has worked together with the UNFCCC on the alignment of long-term climate strategies with long-term energy scenarios.

The Insights Webinar introduced IRENA’s report Long-term energy scenarios and low-emission development strategies: Stocktaking and alignment, which analyses 24 LTES and 36 scenario-based LT-LEDS, their institutional frameworks and the technical coverage of their scenarios. It makes recommendations to how to improve institutional alignment between LTES and LT-LEDS, and to broaden the technical scope of scenarios.

Featured speakers:

• Daniel Russo, Consultant, Planning for the Energy Transition
• Iris van der Lugt, Associate Professional, Clean Energy Transition Scenario

Tuesday, 16 May 2023, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Global Geothermal Market and Technology Assessment Report”

The Global Geothermal Market and Technology Assessment was developed by IRENA, in collaboration with the International Geothermal Association (IGA). It highlights, at a global and regional level, the status of geothermal development and identify key market conditions that have driven growth, as well as emerging trends that are likely to drive sectoral growth in the coming years. The report reviews the status of innovative geothermal technologies that have the potential to scale up the development and use of geothermal energy. It provides recommendations to guide policy makers, project developers, investors, financiers and other stakeholders on how to promote the growth of geothermal markets, harness the potential of geothermal energy and further expand its integration within global energy systems.

Featured speaker:

• Jack Kiruja, Associate Programme Officer Geothermal Energy (Direct Use Apps)

Tuesday, 2 May 2023, 12:00 – 12:30 CET | 14:00 – 14:30 GST

“Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2023 Report”

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) held the webinar on the Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance. The webinar presented key findings from the joint report Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2023 which analysed the latest renewable energy investment trends in the period 2013-2020 and discussed preliminary insights for 2021-2022. The webinar presented key insights on investment trends by technology, sector, region, source of finance, and financial instrument, and how these compare to the investment needed for the energy transition in line with IRENA’s 1.5^°C. The crucial role of public financing in helping address current investment gaps and inequalities was discussed.

Featured speakers:

• Costanza Strinati, Senior Analyst, Climate Policy Initiatives
• Faran Rana, Associate Programme Officer, Knowledge Policy and Finance, IRENA
• Diala Hawila, Associate Programme Officer, Knowledge Policy and Finance, IRENA

Tuesday, 18 April 2023, 14:00 – 14:30 CET | 16:00 – 16:30 GST

“Renewable Energy Roadmap: Nigeria”

The Renewable Energy Roadmap: Nigeria report highlights the need for sustainable energy sources to meet the growing needs of Nigeria's economy and population. It shows how renewable energy technologies are key to achieving a sustainable energy mix and meeting energy affordability, energy security, and reduced pollution goals. The report presents an increased renewable uptake scenario that sees Nigeria’s growing energy needs being provided largely by renewables, leading to a reduction in primary energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions in tandem with increased electrification. However, achieving this scenario requires short-term investment and a shift in investment from fossil fuel to renewable infrastructure. The report also highlights the need for policies to promote clean cooking, access to modern forms of energy, appliance efficiency, and lighting programs.

Featured speaker:

• Seán Collins, Associate Programme Officer, Remap

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 13 December 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

“Solar PV: A Gender Perspective”

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is the largest employer within the renewable energy sector, accounting for 4.3 million jobs. If the solar business does not include a gender lens to incorporate more women, the industry is at risk of excluding a talent pool that is integral to its growth. The webinar discussed the current participation of women in the solar PV sector and present findings from the IRENA's report, Solar PV: A Gender Perspective. This report, the third in IRENA's gender perspective series, outlines the share of women in the solar PV workforce, examines the barriers women face in the sector - including women living and working in the off-grid context - and discusses the path to a more diverse solar PV workforce.

Featured speaker:

• Celia García-Baños, Programme Officer – Policy, Gender and Socioeconomics

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 22 November 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

“Renewable Energy: Jobs along the supply chain”

This webinar event discussed findings from the most recent edition of IRENA’s report series, Renewable Energy and Jobs - Annual Review 2022. The report surveys the global landscape, and discusses experiences in selected countries. This edition spotlights issues of job quality in the mining and processing of raw materials inputs into the renewable energy supply chain and in the handling of materials once generating facilities are decommissioned. Trade disputes and geopolitical rivalries are reinforcing interest in localisation of supply chains. Numerous countries are adopting trade measures and industrial policy strategies to build domestic value. Other key policy objectives include ensuring jobs are decent, and that equal employment opportunities exist for women, youth and minorities.

Featured speaker:

• Michael Renner, Head – Socioeconomics and Policy

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 18 October 2022, 09:30 – 10:00 CET

“Powering Agri-food Value Chains with Geothermal Heat: A Guidebook for Policymakers”

The world population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. As a result, the global demand for food and water is expected to grow by 50% by mid-century, placing increasing pressure on existing water and food systems. This increase in demand for food presents an opportunity for clean energy technologies such as geothermal energy to support the development of “sustainable food systems.”

Geothermal resources contain vast amounts of heat which can be utilised in the agri-food sector to support food production, drying, processing and value addition and preservation. This contributes to food security through increased food production, reduced food spillage and resilience of food systems.

The Global Geothermal Alliance presented the findings of its report titled, Powering Agri-food Value Chains with Geothermal Heat: A Guidebook for Policy Makers. The presentation highlighted:

• Opportunities and benefits for geothermal utilisation in the agri-food sector.
• Priority actions to support accelerated deployment.
• Tools and methodologies to support investment and decision making.

Featured speaker:

• Jack Kiruja, Associate Programme Officer, Geothermal Energy

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 04 October 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

“Renewable Power Generation Cost Report 2021”

The period 2010 to 2021 has witnessed a seismic improvement in the competitiveness of renewables. Solar and wind power costs continued to fall in 2021. This was despite rising materials and equipment costs, given a significant lag in the pass through to total installed costs. IRENA presented key insights of its annual Renewable Power Generation Costs report, with insights into the latest trends in installed costs, capacity factors and the levelized cost of electricity for renewable energy technologies and highlight:

• The unprecedented benefits from renewables in 2022, given the fossil fuel price crisis.
• The new renewable capacity added in 2021 could reduce electricity generation costs in 2022 by at least USD 55 billion globally.
• The expected impact of rising commodity prices in the competitiveness of renewables in 2022.

Featured speakers:

• Pablo Ralon, Programme Officer, RE Cost Status and Outlook
• Sonia Al-Zoghoul, Associate Professional, RE Cost Status and Outlook

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 20 September 2022, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

"Global Hydrogen Trade to Meet the 1.5°C Climate Goal"

Hydrogen is essential to mitigate emissions in heavy industry (chemicals and steel), international shipping and ammonia. Renewable hydrogen production coupled with international trade could open up new possibilities to connect low-cost locations with demand centers. Hydrogen is not easy to handle which means it needs to be processed before transporting it which results in additional investment and energy penalties. This presentation briefly touched upon the potential and cost of renewable hydrogen, technology options and cost comparison to trade hydrogen, and how 2050 could look like for hydrogen trade in a 1.5°C scenario. The webinar was based on a trilogy of reports released in 2022.

Featured speaker:

• Herib Blanco, Analyst, Hydrogen Energy (Power-to-X), IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 06 September 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Grid Codes for Renewable Powered Systems"

This webinar presented insights from the IRENA publication Grid Codes for Renewable Powered Systems, which focuses on the latest developments and good practices to develop grid connection codes for power systems with high shares of variable renewable energy – solar photovoltaic and wind.

Grid codes play a critical role in building trust between the system operators and stakeholders. They remain one of the central tools to ensure the security of supply of a power system at any time. Grid connection codes define technical requirements, regulations, and behaviour for all active participants in the power system, including power generators, adjustable loads, storage, and other units. Grid codes are evolving, to enable innovative technologies to be connected to the network safely, without compromising the reliability of supply.

Featured speakers:

• Arina Anisie, Analyst, Renewable Energy Innovation for Developing Countries, IRENA
• Gayathri Nair, Associate Programme Officer, Renewable Energy Grid Integration, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 05 July 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Innovation Outlook - Renewable Ammonia"

This webinar presented the outlook for renewable ammonia, including market projections, cost competitiveness, technology evolution and policy measures needed to facilitate the transition from a fossil- to a renewables-based ammonia production. The presentation of the key findings from the new report Innovation Outlook: Renewable Ammonia, jointly developed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Ammonia Energy Association (AEA), was followed by a discussion with industry experts on most urgent actions needed to realize the full potential for renewable ammonia in a net-zero energy future.

Featured speakers:

• Gabriel Castellanos, Shipping Decarbonisation team, IRENA
• Kevin Rouwenhorst, Technology Manager, AEA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 21 June 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Renewable Energy Roadmap for Central America: Towards a Regional Energy Transition"

IRENA´s Renewable Energy Roadmaps Programme, REmap, aims to provide strategies for the energy transition at the country and regional levels, with perspectives for 2030 and 2050. The objective of developing regional studies is to understand how a region can promote an energy transition pathway, respecting countries’ unique energy resources, socio-economic status, as well as institutional and regulatory endowments, while at the same time contributing to the global emission reduction objective and leveraging opportunities to meet regional energy and investment goals.

In the REmap and FlexTool analysis for Central America, a series of scenarios were developed that provide innovative and alternative decarbonising solutions while gradually increasing country ambitions. This webinar explored the role of end-use sectors electrification, the feasible expansion of renewable generation, energy efficiency solutions as well the importance of expanding the existing regional power sector integration. Specific sector technological pathways, investment opportunities and tailor actions were important outcomes that enriched the regional debate and help accelerate the energy transformation.

Featured speakers:

• María Vicente García, Associate Professional, REmap 2030 team, IRENA
• Raul Miranda, Associate Analyst, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 07 June 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Innovation trends in electrolysers for hydrogen production"

In May 2022, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published a joint report on innovation trends in electrolysers technology. This webinar will present the main findings of the report and the patent methodology used for the analysis.

The report analyses patent statistics to reveal the trends and dynamism in the exciting field of hydrogen that can be produced using renewable electricity via electrolysis. The great momentum observed in electrolysers is expected to continue and to spur future innovation. In fact, the rising trend in patent filings signals that more will come soon, addressing the urgent need for new solutions to lower the cost of electrolysers in parallel with raising technological efficiency and production capacity.

Electrolysis of water, using renewable electricity, is the sustainable option to produce green hydrogen as an attractive low-carbon energy carrier. To respond to the growing demand for renewables-based hydrogen, an extraordinary expansion of the market for electrolysers is needed linked to a significant capacity increase in the manufacture and deployment of electrolysers. A rapid reduction in electrolyser system costs is essential and technology innovation is crucial to this end.

Featured speakers:

• Francesco Pasimeni, Associate Programme Officer - Innovation, Standards and Patents for Renewable Energy, IRENA
• Geert Boedt, Business Analyst - Business Use of Patent Information, EPO

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 05 April 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Smart Electrification with Renewables: Driving the Transformation of Energy Services"

The world has made the transition from one dominant form of energy to another several times and the replacement of fossil fuels with renewables marks the next historic shift. Countries around the world need a vast expansion of renewables, smarter and more flexible electricity grids, and huge increases in the numbers of vehicles and other products and processes that run on electricity. Those three elements – combined in a “Smart Electrification” strategy – will be crucial in shaping the world’s new, renewable-dominated energy system.

The webinar shared key insights from the IRENA report Smart Electrification with Renewables: Driving the Transformation of Energy Services which provides policy makers with a conceptual overview of the global transition to electrification with renewables. Crucially, this work was undertaken jointly by IRENA and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) – as such, it benefits from the perspective of the world’s largest grid operator. It examines recent trends in relevant technologies and innovations, sets out possible long-term pathways for electrification with renewables, and identifies priority actions to enable those pathways. Smart electrification with renewables focuses on the potential synergies between major increases in renewable power generation, electrification and digitalisation, and looks to create the conditions for the unprecedented co-ordination of their deployment and more efficient use across end-use sectors – power, transport, industry and buildings.

Featured speaker:

• Daniel Russo, Long-Term Planning, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor"

The accelerating deployment of renewables has set in motion a global energy transition, and given the fast pace of change, it is critical to monitor the geopolitical drivers and implications of the transition. As countries around the world rally behind net zero targets, hydrogen is increasingly seen as a missing piece of the energy transformation puzzle to decarbonise harder-to-abate sectors. With the growing momentum to establish a global hydrogen market comes the need for a deeper understanding of its broader effects, including geopolitical aspects. Developed under the umbrella of IRENA’s Collaborative Framework on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation, and building on the work of the Global Commission’s 2019 report, A New World – The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation, IRENA has carried out an in-depth analysis of the geopolitics of hydrogen. This webinar shared key takeaways from the recent IRENA report Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor on whether and how hydrogen may disrupt future energy systems. The webinar shared insights into how countries and stakeholders can navigate the uncertainties and shape the development of hydrogen markets, and outline policy considerations to help mitigate the geopolitical risks and capitalise on opportunities.

Featured speaker:

• Elizabeth Press, Director - Planning and Programme Support, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 08 March 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"INSPIRE: IRENA’s Platform on Patent Data and International Standards for Renewables"

IRENA’s International Standards and Patents in Renewable Energy (INSPIRE) database is an interactive online patent data platform, developed by IRENA, which offers information to users on the characteristics and use of patents and standards for the deployment of renewable energy technologies, facilitating dialogue between different stakeholders on these topics. In this free access web tool, users can monitor the innovation trends in renewable technologies using patents and standards data. This webinar explored the value of patents and standards data analytics and how information can be translated into valuable insights for policymakers, entrepreneurs, industry, research bodies and other key stakeholders in the energy sector. The webinar also showed how to research patents and standards in different renewable energy technologies to identify innovation trends, front-runner countries, and leading technology organisations.

Featured speaker:

• Francesco Pasimeni, Innovation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 22 February 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Pathways to Decarbonise the Shipping Sector by 2050"

International shipping is a key sector of the economy, as much as 90% of worldwide trade is transacted via ocean-going vessels. The sector is also one of the most challenging to decarbonise. The webinar shared key insights from the IRENA’s report A Pathway to Decarbonise the Shipping Sector by 2050, which analyses the technology readiness of the renewable fuels suitable for international shipping and explores the options and actions needed to progress towards a decarbonised maritime shipping sector by 2050. The report also seeks to identify a realistic mitigation pathway to reach the climate goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and bringing CO2 emissions closer to net-zero by mid-century, and the webinar highlighted how, with the right plans and sufficient support, the decarbonisation of the international shipping sector is viable.

Featured speaker:

• Gabriel Castellanos, Shipping decarbonisation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 08 February 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Sector Coupling in Facilitating the Integration of Variable Renewable Energy in Cities"

To achieve net-zero target by 2050, IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook: 1.5°C pathway shows variable renewable electricity will account for 63% of the total electricity output. Accommodating such high share of variable renewables would require significant enhancement in grid flexibility. The webinar shared key insights from the IRENA report Sector Coupling in Facilitating Integration of Variable Renewable Energy in Cities which aims to help cities understand the great decarbonisation potential they hold and ways to unlock it by using sector coupling options. It highlighted the importance of sector coupling as a key source of flexibility that cities can explore to stabilise grid operations and discusses how to quantify sector coupling opportunities in modelling an increasing complexity and interconnectedness of energy systems.

Featured speaker:

• Yong Chen, Sustainable urban energy team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 25 January 2022, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Reaching Zero with Renewables: Capturing carbon"

IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook: 1.5°C pathway foresees that 90% of the solutions to bring us to net-zero by 2050 involve renewable energy through direct supply of renewables, electrification, energy efficiency, green hydrogen, and bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage. Only in residual use of fossil fuels and some industrial processes, such as cement, chemicals and iron and steel, decarbonisation efforts may require CCS and CO2 removal technologies and measures. This webinar shared key takeaways from the recent IRENA report Reaching Zero With Renewables: Capturing Carbon on the status and potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies and their roles alongside renewables in the deep decarbonisation of energy systems in the context of global pathways to net-zero emissions.

Featured speaker:

• Martina Lyons, End use sectors and innovation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 14 December 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Benchmarking Scenario Comparisons: Key indicators for the clean energy transition"

Long-term energy scenarios have become an essential tool for policy makers to guide the clean energy transition. However, the energy scenarios produced can vary and be complex, leading to an abundance of insights and technology combinations. Comparison studies have emerged to help understand the convergences and divergences between various scenarios, providing trade-offs for decision makers and identifying key insights for policy makers. This webinar discussed the main findings from the recently-published collaborative report between IRENA and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) Benchmarking Scenario Comparisons: Key indicators for the clean energy transition, which highlights the motivation, focus and methods of 14 scenario comparison studies, synthesizing experts’ views on how to improve such studies to gain insights for the clean energy transition.

Featured speakers:

• Wouter Nijs, Researcher - Knowledge for the Energy Union Unit, European Commission JRC
• Nadeem Goussous, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios and Network team, IRENA 

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 30 November 2021, 13:00 – 13:30 CET

"Renewable Energy and Jobs"

This webinar event will discuss the main findings from the recent IRENA report Renewable Energy and Jobs - Annual Review 2021 and highlight the importance to build and strengthen domestic supply chains and the increasing need for expanding skills in all regions of the world to create a capable renewable energy workforce. In addition, the webinar will also discuss the policy framework required to bring together labour market incentives, industrial policies, and further needs to adopt social protection measures.

Featured speakers:

• Michael Renner, Knowledge Policy and Finance Centre team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Thursday, 08 July 2021, 13:30 – 14:00 CEST

"Supporting Climate Action Ahead of COP26"

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) represent climate action pledges aimed at keeping global warming well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, above pre-industrial levels. Under this historic agreement, countries agreed to increase their efforts to prevent climate change every five years. While the COVID-19 issue caused several countries to postpone submitting enhanced NDCs, over 76 countries submitted new or updated NDCs, many of which included increased mitigation ambition, and many more plans are scheduled to be published in the coming months.

The webinar highlighted findings from collaboration with African and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) signatories to the Paris Agreement to improve their mitigation targets, as well as discuss how these new national climate policies collectively put us on a path to limiting dangerous levels of warming. IRENA provides high-level technical assistance, among others, in the design and implementation of enhanced mitigation and adaptation measures in climate action plans that use renewable energy technologies, as well as assistance in assessing their mitigation potential, associated costs, and adaptation co-benefits. This includes creating datasets, tools, and insights focused on practical solutions for decarbonizing energy systems and increasing renewable energy use in buildings, industry, and transport sectors using innovative approaches. Participants were able to discuss recent national climate plans presented in 2021 and learn from new climate action tools for policymakers and stakeholders to analyse national climate commitments demonstrated by IRENA experts.

Featured speakers:

• Simon Benmarraze, Renewable Energy Markets and Technology team, IRENA
• Paula Nardone, Renewable Energy Markets and Technology team, IRENA
• Josefine Axelsson, Renewable Energy Markets and Technology team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 22 June 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CEST

"Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020: Cost Declines and Record Capacity Additions"

Join IRENA to hear about the latest renewable power generation cost trends from a decade where solar and wind power learning has driven down costs to historically low levels and made them the mainstay of new capacity additions in 2020. IRENA presented highlights of its annual “Renewable Power Generation Costs” report, granted insights into the latest trends in installed costs, capacity factors and the levelized cost of electricity for bioenergy for power, concentrating solar power, geothermal, hydropower, onshore and offshore wind, and solar photovoltaics and hear about:

• The key technology drivers behind cost reductions and performance improvements.
• How cost levels differ between countries and what underlies these differences.
• How new solar and wind power is increasingly cheaper than running existing coal plant.
• How battery storage cost reductions are increasingly allowing storage to complement new solar and wind capacity.
• How, for the first time, the report includes insights into solar thermal heat for industrial applications.

Featured speakers:

• Michael Taylor, Renewable Cost Status and Outlook team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Wednesday, 09 June 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CEST

"Renewable Methanol: An Enabler for Carbon Neutrality in the Chemical & Liquid Fuel Sectors"

Methanol is essential for the chemical industry and represents an emerging energy fuel for a wide range of uses. Although largely produced from fossil fuels, it can also be made from sustainable, renewable-based energy sources such as from biomass or synthesised from green hydrogen and CO2. While this could expand methanol’s use as a chemical feedstock and fuel while moving industrial and transport sectors toward net carbon neutral goals, current costs of renewable methanol production are currently high and production volumes are low. This webinar will share the insights and key findings from the joint IRENA and Methanol Institute report ‘Innovation Outlook: Renewable Methanol’ and discuss pathways to transition from fossil fuel-based to renewable methanol, market status, outlook for renewable methanol for applications in chemical and transport sectors and elaborate on policy actions needed to make renewable methanol cost competitive by 2050 or earlier.

Featured speakers:

• Paul Durrant, Bioenergy and End-use sectors team, IRENA
• Francisco Boshell, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets, IRENA
• Seungwoo Kang, Bioenergy and End-use sectors team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 11:00 – 11:40 CEST

"Planning and prospects for renewable power: Eastern and Southern Africa"

Long-term energy planning is a fundamental instrument for governments in guiding energy transitions. Well managed energy planning process leads to a consensus-based long-term vision, supported by concrete scenarios and policy actions. That in turn gives investors a clear signal and sense of stability on policy directions, while allowing stakeholders to better prepare for the near-term milestones.

IRENA's Planning and Prospects for the Renewable Power in Africa series has been providing inputs to the energy planning process within African institutions, and power pools in particular. Recently published "Planning and prospects for renewable power: Eastern and Southern Africa" is the fifth report in the series. It assessed the renewable power investment potential within the landscape of the regional power sector development through 2040 in Eastern and Southern African power pools. The analysis is IRENA's inputs to the Programme Infrastructure Development for Africa as well as to the Africa Continental Power Systems Master Plan, to which IRENA contribute as the modelling partner.

This webinar presented high-level insights from the report.

Featured speakers:

• Asami Miketa, Energy Planning and Support team, IRENA
• Tichakunda Simbini, Energy infrastructure Expert, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 27 April 2021, 10:00 – 10:30 CEST

"Renewables and energy efficiency addressing the rising energy usage of cryptocurrency mining"

Proof-of-work blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, consume considerable amounts of electricity to process transactions and provide network security. The Bitcoin network alone accounts for about 0.65% of total global electricity consumption. While the share of renewables in mining is higher than average, at around 39%, compared to 25% of electricity globally, more can be done. Similar power-hungry digital sectors, including data centres, provide insights on how to increase energy efficiency and the share of renewables while also providing grid services. Also, newer consensus mechanisms, including proof-of-stake (PoS) , which eliminate the need for mining, are being developed and implemented and promise to reduce the energy demand of the Ethereum blockchain, the second largest by market cap, by around 99%. While PoW mining is by no means the largest consumer of electricity, due to its visibility it attracts a lot of attention to the carbon intensity of the power sector as a whole. The added attention this space affords can be used as a catalyst to achieve a 100% share of renewables in the power sector, making blockchain mining not a roadblock but an accelerator of an energy transition centred around renewables.

Featured speakers:

• Francisco Boshell, Team lead, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets
• Sean Ratka, Office of the Director of IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 15:00 – 15:30 CEST

"Climate-safe 1.5°C pathway by 2050: Technology solutions and investment needs"

The recent trends show that the gap between where we are and where we should be to achieve the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal is not decreasing but widening. IRENA’s preview of its World Energy Transitions Outlook proposes energy transition solutions for the narrow pathway available to contain the rise of temperature to 1.5°C and halt irreversible global warming.  Proven technologies for a net-zero energy system already largely exist today. IRENA’s “1.5°C pathway” indicates over 90% of all decarbonisation solutions in 2050 will involve renewable energy through direct supply of low-cost power, efficiency, renewable-powered electrification in end-use as well as green hydrogen. Carbon capture and removal technologies in combination with bioenergy will deliver the ‘last mile’ CO2 reductions towards a net-zero energy system.  This webinar presented high-level insights on energy transition technology components and investment needs in setting the world on a trajectory towards a sustainable, resilient and inclusive energy future.

Featured speakers:

• Ricardo Gorini, Head of the Renewable Energy Roadmaps team
• Rodrigo Leme, Renewable Energy Roadmaps team
• Gayathri Prakash, Renewable Energy Roadmaps team

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 23 March 2021, 10:00 – 10:30 CET (13:00 – 13:30 GST)

"Hydrogen series – Part 2: Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction: Scaling up Electrolysers to Meet the 1.5⁰C Climate Goal"

Following the Part 1 of the Hydrogen webinar series, which focused on the policy support for hydrogen to achieve its future potential as an ubiquitous energy carrier, part 2 focused on the cost of production to increase hydrogen’s competitiveness. Most of the production cost of green hydrogen is the electricity input. Renewable electricity is already cost competitive in most regions and will continue to become cheaper in the coming years. The next largest cost component is the electrolyser. Following the IRENA report Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction, this webinar discussed the different strategies that will allow achieving a low cost for the electrolyzer and will make green hydrogen competitive with other low-carbon pathways.

Featured speakers:

• Emanuele Taibi, Analyst, Power Sector Transformation Strategies, IRENA
• Herib Blanco, Analyst, Hydrogen Energy (Power-to-X), IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 09 March 2021, 10:00 – 10:30 CET (13:00 – 13:30 GST)

"Hydrogen series – Part 1: Green hydrogen: A guide to policy making"

The last two years have seen an increased focus on net zero emissions energy systems. To achieve this goal, even the most difficult to abate sectors need to be tackled. Hydrogen can complement electrification and energy efficiency in achieving this goal. Green hydrogen can link the renewable electricity with those applications that are difficult to electrify, while providing flexibility to the power system. Yet, today, most of the policies are targeted to the transport sector. A broader policy support will be fundamental for hydrogen to achieve its future potential as an ubiquitous energy carrier. The webinar presented key takeaways from the recent IRENA report Green Hydrogen: A Guide to Policy Makers and highlighted the policy pillars to transition green hydrogen from niche to mainstream. These include building national hydrogen strategies, identifying policy priorities, guarantees of origin and enabling policies.

Featured speaker:

• Emanuele Bianco, Knowledge and policy, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 23 February 2021, 15:00 GST (12:00 CET)

"Skill Building for the Energy Transition"

Building the skill base necessary for achieving the energy transition requires the implementation of education and training policies and programmes that address the need to reskill and upskill the existing energy workforce as well as educate a new generation of energy professionals. This webinar shared preliminary findings from the upcoming brief on renewable energy education and training and showcased examples of policies and initiatives including public-private partnerships for training; enhanced curriculum frameworks; teacher training; ICT utilisation for skill delivery; and recruitment of underrepresented groups.

Featured speaker:

• Samah Elsayed, Programme Officer- Renewable Energy Education, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 09 February 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Mini-grids of the future: renewables innovation and resiliency"

The webinar featured IRENA’s report Quality Infrastructure for Smart Mini-Grids. It discussed how renewable mini-grids can be key providers of electricity access in remote areas and islands. Furthermore, interconnecting one mini-grid with another, or with the main grid, can bring multiple benefits. Grid-connected mini-grids can increase power resilience and reliability, while allowing the integration of a higher share of renewable electricity and therefore decreasing energy costs. The growth of mini-grid markets should be accompanied by a strong quality infrastructure (QI) that ensures that the implemented systems will deliver the expected services and benefits in the long term. International standards, testing and licensing facilities are key to ensuring the high quality of deployed mini-grids. The webinar also featured the latest development on international standards for Low-Voltage Direct-Current (LVDC) mini-grids.

Featured speakers:

• Francisco Boshell, Team lead, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets, IRENA
• Vimal Mahendru, President of Legrand-India, India member of the IEC Standardization Management Board and Chair of the IEC Systems Committee on Low Voltage Direct Current and Low Voltage Direct Current for Electricity Access

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 26 January 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"INSPIRE: IRENA’s interactive tool for patent trends and international standards in RE"

IRENA’s International Standards and Patents in Renewable Energy (INSPIRE) database is an interactive online patent data platform developed by IRENA with the support of the European Patent Office EPO and WIPO. In this free access web tool, users can monitor the innovation trends in renewable technologies using patents and standards data. This webinar explored the value of patent and standards data analytics and how information can be translated into valuable insights for policymakers, entrepreneurs, industry, research bodies and other key stakeholders in the energy sector. The audience were able to learn how to research patents and standards in different renewable energy technologies to identify innovation trends, front runner countries, and leading technology organisations.

Featured speakers:

• Elisa Asmelash, REmap team, IRENA
• Mustafa Abunofal, Innovation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 5 January 2021, 14:00 – 14:30 CET

"Thermal energy storage: a key enabler of increased renewables penetration in energy systems"

The webinar explains the role of thermal energy storage (TES) in the global energy transition. The information is based on IRENA’s recently released report 'Innovation Outlook: Thermal energy Storage'. TES technologies can address some challenges in energy systems including, for example, decoupling heating and cooling demand from immediate power generation and supply availability, as well as balancing seasonal energy supply variations for thermal applications. The report outlines the pathway for the different TES technologies in the decade to come. The suitable TES technologies, their applications and expected development are elaborated for five applications: power, industry, buildings, district heating and cooling, and cold chains.

Featured speakers:

• Francisco Boshell, Team lead, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets, IRENA
• Liliana Gomes, Innovation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 15 December 2020, 15:00 – 15:30 CET

"Net-zero iron and steel production: challenges, options and what needs to happen now"

The iron and steel sector is a major energy user and a major emitter of CO2. In 2017, the sector accounted for 32 EJ of total global final energy use, and in 2018 it produced 7-9% of total global CO2 emissions. Drawing on the analysis presented in IRENA’s Reaching zero with renewables report and building on key takeaways from the discussions in the 3rd IRENA Innovation Week this webinar provided insights into the challenges the sector faces and the main options and actions needed for deep-decarbonization of the sector.

Featured speaker:

• Paul Durrant, End use sectors and Bioenergy, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 1 December 2020, 15:00 – 15:30 CET

”Scenarios for the Energy Transition: Global experience and best practices”

This webinar presented IRENA’s new report 'Scenarios for the Energy Transition: Global experience and best practices', which showcases efforts from governments and technical institutions worldwide to improve the use and development of long-term energy scenarios to guide national policy-making towards the clean energy transition. The webinar also introduced IRENA’s Long-Term Energy Scenarios (LTES) Network, a global platform for energy planners to share their experience and good practices in the use and development of LTES. The LTES Network is open to all IRENA member states with established planning processes.

Featured speakers:

• Asami Miketa, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios and Network team, IRENA
• Pablo Carvajal, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios and Network team, IRENA
• Nadeem Goussous, Clean Energy Transition Scenarios and Network team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 24 November 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

”Socio-economic benefits of renewables: Job creation”

Supported by ambitious policies, the energy transition can go hand-in-hand with a range of socio-economic benefits. One of these is job creation, which is a critical objective for people and policymakers in countries around the world. IRENA recently-released the 2020 edition of Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review, the seventh report in the series. This report updates findings from earlier editions, offering estimates for renewable energy employment around the world in 2019. It highlights trends for major renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar PV, hydropower, and biomass, offers insights for selected countries and relates these to various factors that influence employment generation, including policy initiatives and market dynamics. The webinar highlighted key findings.

Featured speaker:

• Michael Renner, Policy team at Knowledge Policy and Finance, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 17 November 2020, 15:00 – 15:30 CET

”Transforming transport with renewable based solutions”

The transport sector accounts for about a quarter of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions. While the pathway towards zero emissions is relatively clear for passenger road transport and rail through direct electrification, that is not the case for the remaining sectors, i.e., road freight transport, shipping and aviation, which account for over half of the transport sector’s emissions. Following the key findings from the IRENA’s report Reaching zero with renewables and building on key takeaways from the discussions in the 3rd IRENA Innovation Week which focused on renewable-solutions for industry and transport, this webinar dived deeper into emerging renewable solutions, challenges and opportunities to decarbonize the hard to electrify transport, i.e. road freight transport, shipping and aviation.

Featured speakers:

• Paul Durrant, End-use sectors and bioenergy team, IRENA
• Carlos Ruiz, End-use sectors team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Wednesday, 2 September 2020, 15:00 - 15:30 CEST

"Energy Sector Subsidies - A look at the first estimate of their total value?"

In 2017, the costs of unpriced externalities and the direct subsidies for fossil fuels (USD 3.1 trillion) exceeded subsidies for renewable energy by a factor of 19. The actual level of total energy sector subsidies is however and, in all probability, larger due to data gaps. The main factors are a lack of harmonised subsidy definition and the boundary conditions for the application of the definition – as well as a lack of harmonised calculation methodologies – and the difficulty of calculating many forms of subsidy (e.g., lax regulations for environmental remediation). Following the IRENA’s technical paper ‘Energy Subsidies: Evolution in the global energy transformation to 2050’, this webinar provided key insights on globally used subsidy definitions and calculation methods, explained how a first ever estimate of total energy sector subsidies was arrived at and the strengths and limitations of the approach. The webinar presented the current level of energy sector subsidies and the trends in total energy subsidies by fuel or source and across sectors, and shared views on what needs to be done to facilitate a more robust debate around the reform of energy subsidies.

Featured speaker:

• Michael Taylor, Renewable Cost Status and Outlook team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 18 August 2020, 15:00 - 15:30 CEST

"Reaching zero with renewables in transport and industry"

Decarbonisation of some transport (road freight, aviation and shipping) and industry (chemicals and petrochemicals, iron and steel, cement and lime, aluminium) sectors by 2060 will be very challenging due to limited viable options. Renewables, supplemented with other options, can play a central role in these sectors and can make an early but significant difference that would help build confidence and scale. This webinar shared early insights from the upcoming IRENA’s report ‘Reaching Zero with Renewables’ and from the recent IRENA’s advice provided to the G20 Climate Stewardship Working Group on the use of renewables in the challenging industry and transport sectors.

Featured speaker:

• Paul Durrant, End use sectors and bioenergy team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 07 July 2020, 15:00 - 15:30 CET

“The role of green hydrogen in reaching zero emissions”  

Hydrogen from renewable power (green hydrogen) has been considered key element for the energy transition. Hydrogen technologies have been enjoying unprecedented momentum with a growing evidence in terms of their decreased costs and increased performance that, in addition to decreasing costs of renewable power, suggest they are becoming an attractive option to decarbonise global energy systems. While in the past the major application consideration favoured the road-transport sector, recently the debate surrounding hydrogen has evolved and shifted towards all hard-to-decarbonise sectors. Following the IRENA’s 2019 report ‘Hydrogen: A renewable energy perspective’, this webinar will provide a more in-depth perspective on hydrogen’s strategic considerations, its nexus with renewable energy, its economics and trade.

Featured speakers:

• Emanuele Taibi, Power System Transformation Strategies team, IRENA
• Raul Miranda, Power System Transformation Strategies team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

Tuesday, 23 June 2020, 10:00 - 10:30 CET

“Advanced biofuels: What holds them back?”  

Whilst representing a third of global energy demand, the transport sector has the lowest level of renewable energy use today. Biofuels can offer readily available solutions for decarbonizing transport as an alternative to fossil fuels and as a complement to the enhanced role of electric mobility. IRENA’s climate-friendly scenario indicates that a five-fold increase of biofuels would be needed by 2050, however, many barriers are holding back their scale-up of biofuels deployment. This webinar, focused on the 2019 report ‘Advanced biofuels: what holds them back?’, shared practical insights into the complex business environment and discussed ways forward.

Featured speakers:

• Toshimasa Masuyama, Bioenergy team, IRENA
• Seungwoo Kang, Bioenergy team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here. 

Tuesday, 09 June 2020, 15:00 - 15:30 CET

“Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019: Latest Trends and Drivers”  

Solar and wind power costs continued to fall in 2019 and auction and PPA results show there is no sign of slowing in the downward trend. IRENA has been tracking and analyzing the cost evolution of renewable power since 2012 to shed light on the accelerating momentum of renewables as both the key climate solution and a strong business proposition. Following the 2019’s edition of IRENA’s Renewable Power Generation Costs report published on 2 June 2020, this webinar shared with you key takeaways from this new body of work and provided insights into global cost trends for renewable power and what has driven their cost declines in 2019.

Featured speaker:

• Michael Taylor, Renewable Cost Status and Outlook team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here. 

 

Tuesday, 26 May 2020, 16:00 - 16:30 CET

“IRENA FlexTool – Assessing power system flexibility to integrate a higher share of renewables”

Flexibility has become a common by-word when transforming our energy systems towards the ones dominated by renewable energy. In 2018, IRENA published the report ‘Power system flexibility for the energy transition’ together with a publicly and freely available tool, the IRENA FlexTool, that was used to perform flexibility assessments for Colombia, Panama, Thailand and Uruguay. This webinar reviewed the concept of flexibility proposed two years ago and served to present the latest version of the FlexTool, that was launched 2 weeks ago and is accompanied by a set of comprehensive training materials.

Featured speakers:

• Emanuele Taibi, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA
• Carlos Fernandez, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here .

 

Tuesday, 12 May 2020, 10:00 - 10:30 CET

“Oceans powering the energy transition: Progress through innovative business models and revenue support”

This joint webinar by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) discussed the role of oceans as a sustainable resource supporting the global energy transition. The webinar presented the status of ocean energy technologies and the needed actions to reach wide commercialization. The webinar also shed light on promising revenue support mechanisms and innovative business models, e.g: hybrid technologies and coupling sectors, tailored to country context.

Featured speakers:

• Judit Hecke, Innovation team, IRENA
• Alessandra Salgado, Innovation team, IRENA
• Rémi Gruet, CEO, Ocean Energy Europe

IRENA presentation slides can be accessed here here and Ocean Energy Europe presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 28 April 2020, 10:00 - 10:30 CET

”Renewables for refugee settlements: Sustainable energy access in humanitarian situations”

In response to the alarming numbers of displaced people around the world and their unreliable access to sustainable energy, IRENA collaborated with UNHCR in assessing energy access in four refugee settlements in Iraq and Ethiopia, in an attempt to identify ideal renewable energy solutions to reduce diesel consumption and costs and provide the refugees with clean, reliable and cost-efficient energy for their everyday purposes. The webinar hosted by the Power Sector Transformation Strategies team will shared insights and takeaways from this study captured in its 2019 report Renewables for refugee settlements: Sustainable energy access in humanitarian situations and will outlined avenues to replicate the proposed renewable energy solutions in other refugee settlements and shared possible business models to increase the uptake of renewables as well as enable the participation of private actors.

Featured speakers:

• Dr. Deribe Gurmu, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ethiopia
• Emanuele Taibi, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA
• Aakarshan Vaid, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Thursday, 16 April 2020, 3:00pm - 3:30pm CET

“The IRENA Electricity Storage Valuation Framework”

Following the launch of IRENA's Electricity Storage Valuation Framework in March, this webinar hosted by the Power Sector Transformation Strategies team at IRENA gave an overview of the report focused on how to assess the value of electricity storage for the power system and how to create conducive regulatory frameworks for cost-effective storage deployment. The webinar featured Heather Worley from the World Bank as a guest speaker, who introduced the Energy Storage Partnership, a new international partnership established by the World Bank with over 30 partners (incl. IRENA) to help expand the deployment of energy storage and bring new technologies to developing countries' power systems.

Featured speakers:

• Heather Worley, Energy Storage Partnership, ESMAP, World Bank
• Emanuele Taibi, Power Sector Transformation Strategies team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Wednesday, 1 April 2020, 10:00 - 10:30 CET

”Unlocking demand-side flexibility to transform the power sector”

The webinar hosted by the Power Sector Transformation team discussed a need to increase flexibility to accommodate variable renewables into the power systems particularly by adjusting the electricity demand over the course of various timeframes. The webinar drew upon the insights from the IRENA 2019 report “Demand-side flexibility for Power Sector Transformation” and showcased innovative solutions to harness demand-side flexibility such as power-to-X, EV smart charging, smart appliances as well as industrial demand response.

Featured speaker:

• Carlos Fernandez, Power Sector Transformation team, IRENA

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 17 March 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

”Innovations for 100% renewable power: a systemic approach”

The webinar hosted by the Innovation team discussed the need for a systemic approach to innovations to integrate higher shares of variable renewables into the power systems. Innovations in enabling technologies together with innovations in business models, market designs and system operations are needed to increase the flexibility of the power systems. The webinar offered insights into the systemic innovation framework developed in the IRENA’s 2019 flagship report “Innovation landscape for a renewable-powered future”. Building on this framework, the webinar then showcased 4 tailor-made innovative solutions developed for the specific case of Sweden, which aims for 100% renewable power by 2040. The findings from the study were recently published in the report “Innovative solutions for 100% renewable power in Sweden”.

Featured speakers:

• Arina Anisie, Innovation team
• Elena Ocenic, Innovation team

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 3 March 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

“Planning for the renewable future: improving the use and development of long-term energy scenarios”

The webinar hosted by the Planning for the Global Energy Transition team explored the rapidly evolving landscape of long-term energy planning practices. The webinar shared insights into IRENA’s Long-term Energy Scenarios (LTES) Campaign and Network, which aims to provide a global platform to exchange good practices in the use and the development of clean energy transition scenarios. The webinar also introduced IRENA’s AVRIL program, short for ‘Addressing Variable Renewables in Long-term Energy Planning’, which aims to support government planning practitioners to adopt practical strategies to represent variable renewables in long-term modelling of crucial power system requirements, such as firm capacity, system flexibility, and transmission capacity.

Featured speakers:

• Pablo Carvajal, Planning for the Global Energy Transition team
• Bilal Hussain, Planning for the Global Energy Transition team

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 18 February 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

“Grid Stability with High Share of Renewables - Transforming Small Island Power Systems”

The webinar hosted by the Grid Integration team explored the importance of assessing the integration of higher shares of variable renewables into the grid, particularly the grids of small island developing states, to overcome technical constraints. Speaker shared best practices to mitigate technical challenges, considering system specificities, and offered insights into available resources to ensure secure and reliable power systems.

Featured speaker:

• Gayathri Nair, Grid Integration team

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 4 February 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

“Where is renewable energy innovation heading? – What patents data can tell us.”

The webinar hosted by the Innovation, Quality & Standards team explored patent data analytics and how to translate this into valuable insights for policymakers, entrepreneurs, industry, investors and other key stakeholders in the energy sector. By using the online IRENA platform, INSPIRE, the webinar showed how to search for patents in different renewable energy technologies to identify innovation trends, front runner countries, and leading technology organisations.

Featured speakers:

• Alessandra Salgado, Innovation team
• Francisco Boshell, Team lead, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 21 January 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

“Electric Vehicles: how smartly should we charge them?”

The webinar hosted by Innovation team explored synergies between electric vehicles and renewable energy, and how electrifying transport can aid in the decarbonisation of both the transport and power sector. It focused in particular on smart charging and its key role in unlocking flexibility from electric vehicles to use more solar and wind power. It also offered insights into how technological breakthroughs and innovative business models, as well as regulatory frameworks, are all important for the development of smart charging together with the rapid deployment of electric vehicles.

Featured speakers:

• Arina Anisie, Innovation team
• Francisco Boshell, Team lead, Renewable Energy Technology, Standards and Markets

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

 

Tuesday, 7 January 2020, 10:00 – 10:30 CET

“Wind and Solar PV – what we need by 2050”

The webinar hosted by the Renewable Energy Roadmaps team (REmap) explored the prominent role of wind and solar PV  technologies in accelerating the global energy transition to 2050 based on IRENA’s climate-resilient pathway (REmap Case). In particular, it outlined the growth in wind and solar PV power deployments needed in the next three decades to achieve the Paris climate goals and offered further insights into cost-reduction opportunities, technology trends and the need to prepare electricity grids for rising shares of wind and solar PV power.

Featured speakers:

• Elisa Asmelash, REmap team
• Gayathri Prakash, REmap team
• Maisarah Kadir, REmap team

Presentation slides can be accessed here.