Browse by: "S"

Japan’s G20 presidency 2019 asked the International Energy Agency to analyse progress in G20 countries towards securing investments in low-carbon power generation. The Japan presidency, which began on 1 December 2018 and runs through 30 November 2019, has placed a strong focus on innovation, business and finance.1 In the areas of energy and the environment, Japan wishes to create a “virtuous cycle between the environment and growth”, which is the core theme of the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth in Karuizawa, Japan, 15-16 June 2019.

A first draft report was presented to the 2nd meeting of the G20 Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG), held through 18-19 April 2019. This final report incorporates feedback and comments submitted during April by the G20 membership and was shared with the ETWG members.

This final report is cited in “Proposed Documents for the Japanese Presidency of the G20” that was distributed to the G20 energy ministers, who convened in Karuizawa on 15-16 June 2019.

This report, prepared as an input for the 2019 G20 ministerial meeting, is an IEA contribution; it is not submitted for formal approval by energy ministers, nor does it reflect the G20 membership’s national or collective views. This report looks at one of the key challenges for the decarbonisation of the energy sector, notably in organised power markets. Based on insights from the IEA flagship publication, World Energy Outlook 2018, and from the recent World Energy Investment 2019, the report provides guidance to policy makers on how to accelerate the decarbonisation of the power sector.

Since the scale of the economic crisis began to emerge, the IEA has been leading the calls for governments to make the recovery as sustainable and resilient as possible. This means immediately addressing the core issues of global recession and soaring unemployment – and doing so in a way that also takes into account the key challenge of building cleaner and more secure energy systems.

As they design economic recovery plans, policy makers are having to make enormously consequential decisions in a very short space of time. These decisions will shape economic and energy infrastructure for decades to come and will almost certainly determine whether the world has a chance of meeting its long-term energy and climate goals.

The Sustainable Recovery Plan set out in this report shows governments have a unique opportunity today to boost economic growth, create millions of new jobs and put global greenhouse gas emissions into structural decline. This work was done in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund.

An overview of the prevailing institutional framework related to bioenergy and associated policies opens this roadmap, followed by a description of the wider context of bioenergy supply and consumption in Georgia.

The body of the roadmap focuses on:

• Ensuring sustainable biomass supplies
• Modernising the consumption of biomass.

Current Georgian practices are summarised for these two areas, and examples of international best practices in bioenergy from IEA member countries are offered. The roadmap then outlines the policies, technologies and management practices needed for Georgia to harness its biomass potential securely and sustainably. These are presented as a set of overarching policy actions, underpinned by detailed biomass supply and consumption recommendations.

The recommended actions are compiled as a co-ordinated package of measures to be implemented during 2020-25 to modernise Georgia’s bioenergy industry and make it sustainable by 2030. The social, economic and environmental benefits for the country are summarised as a vision of Georgia’s modern bioenergy industry in 2030.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) regularly conducts in-depth peer reviews of the energy policies of its member countries. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences.

Since the last IEA review in 2015, Spain has solved a long-standing issue of tariff deficits in its electricity and gas sectors and closed all of its coal mines, which has allowed it to place the energy transition at the forefront of its energy and climate change policies.

The current Spanish framework for energy and climate is based on the 2050 objectives of national climate neutrality, 100% renewable energy in the electricity mix, and 97% renewable energy in the total energy mix. As such, it is centred on the massive development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable hydrogen.

Notwithstanding its considerable progress to date on decarbonising and increasing the share of renewables in the electricity sector, Spain’s total energy mix is still heavily dominated by fossil fuels. Notably, the transport, industry and buildings sectors all have considerable work ahead of them to meet the country’s targets for decarbonisation and higher shares of renewables.

When all of Spain’s plans and strategies are implemented, a completely different energy sector will emerge in which fossil fuels are no longer dominant and end-user sectors are mostly electrified. Such a transformed energy landscape will come with new challenges and will provide new opportunities.

In this report, the IEA provides energy policy recommendations to help Spain effectively manage this transformation of its energy sector.

This report examines the evolving nature of energy security in the context of clean energy transitions in general and on the pathway to net-zero emissions in particular. It highlights emerging energy security concerns and provides recommendations to foster international collaboration, notably within the Group of Twenty (G20).

In the context of Italy’s G20 presidency, its Ministry of Economic Development requested the International Energy Agency (IEA) to undertake this Security of Clean Energy Transitions report. It aims to support discussions among the G20 countries and to provide insights and direction for the review and update of the G20 energy collaboration principles, which were endorsed at the G20 Brisbane Leaders’ Summit in 2014.

This roadmap starts with an overview of the prevailing institutional framework related to the renewables and electricity sectors respectively, and the related policy landscape. The wider context of both the renewables and electricity sectors in Moldova is then outlined. This is followed by the body of the roadmap, which focuses on: Removing barriers to the deployment of renewables; Establishing flexible electricity markets with enhanced regional co-ordination; Enhancing technical flexibility of the power system. In these three focus areas, a substantial amount of knowledge, experience and expertise has already been accrued by other countries and regions in their own energy transitions.

This roadmap therefore provides relevant examples from international experiences with a view to providing an idea of the possibilities for Moldova.

The roadmap outlines specific policies and actionable items in order to apply these international best practice examples, taking into account the particular characteristics of the Moldovan electricity system. Finally, these recommended actions are put in a co ordinated package of measures to be implemented for a vision of a secure, clean and modern electricity supply generated from domestic VRE sources. This includes a timeline of measures to be targeted over three distinct periods in the short-, medium- and long-term to deliver this modern electricity system, and in turn provide the social, economic and environmental benefits from Moldova’s clean energy transition.

This Solar Energy Policy in Uzbekistan Roadmap is part of the EU4Energy programme, a five-year initiative funded by the European Union. EU4Energy’s aim is to support the development of evidence-based energy policy design and data capabilities in Eastern Partnership and Central Asian countries, of which Uzbekistan is a part.

The main purpose of this roadmap is to guide policy making at all levels to maximise the use of solar energy in Uzbekistan, and to serve as a precursor for a national solar energy strategy. The government of Uzbekistan is invited to consider incorporating the actions outlined in this roadmap so as to enhance the use of solar resources into a dedicated solar energy strategy.

This roadmap primarily focuses on increasing solar generation in Uzbekistan's electricity mix, but also touches upon solar heat potential to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

The roadmap aims to help Uzbekistan formulate its strategies and plans for solar energy deployment across all levels of government. It is also intended to support and guide the activities of other key stakeholders.

The EU4Energy programme is a six-year initiative led and funded by the European Union. One of its key goals is to enable greater application of evidence-based energy policy and decision-making in participating countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The International Energy Agency (IEA), the Energy Community and the Energy Charter support the project, with the IEA taking lead responsibility for the policy development dimensions. As part of this programme, the IEA has prepared this high-level policy roadmap to help inform and guide policy practitioners as they seek to develop and implement policies to strengthen power system security in Kyrgyzstan, with a focus on improving power system reliability and resilience during periods of water shortage.

The analysis and proposals advanced in this document provide an integrated approach incorporating a suite of practical regulatory, supply-side and demand-side measures that reflect international experience and best practices. It avoids detailed prescription, recognising that Kyrgyz policy practitioners are better placed to draw on their local knowledge and experience to address practical details as they emerge. Accordingly, the roadmap’s proposed measures and pathways are intended to inform and guide the development of effective policies and programmes to help strengthen power system reliability and resilience, especially during periods of water shortage.

This paper begins by discussing power system security concepts and principles, focusing on how power system security is managed during normal operating conditions and how this can change in hydro-dependent power systems during periods of sustained water shortage. A description of the policy context for power system security in Kyrgyzstan follows. It highlights the key challenges for strengthening power system security, and provides an overview of the policy, legal, regulatory and institutional arrangements governing power system security in Kyrgyzstan. Finally, an integrated high-level policy roadmap is presented, including proposed strategic goals and a range of practical policy measures to pursue power system security over the next decade.

Secure, resilient and sustainable energy technology supply chains are central to successful clean energy transitions. The race to net zero emissions will redefine global energy security and shift the focus from the supply of fossil fuels to the supply of the minerals, materials and manufacturing capacity needed to deliver clean energy technologies. This report, Securing Clean Energy Technology Supply Chains, assesses current and future supply chain needs for key technologies – including solar PV, batteries for electric vehicles and low emissions hydrogen – and provides a framework for governments and industry to identify, assess and respond to emerging opportunities and vulnerabilities. The IEA highlights five key strategies to build secure, resilient and sustainable supply chains: Diversify, Accelerate, Innovate, Collaborate and Invest.

This report has been prepared for the Sydney Energy Forum on 12-13 July 2022. The IEA is pleased to co-host the Forum alongside the Australian Government and in partnership with the Business Council of Australia. The report is a precursor to the 2023 edition of Energy Technology Perspectives, an IEA flagship report, which will present detailed analysis on what is needed to develop and expand a range of clean energy technology supply chains to achieve net zero emissions.

Solar PV is a crucial pillar of clean energy transitions worldwide, underpinning efforts to reach international energy and climate goals. Over the last decade, the amount of solar PV deployed around the world has increased massively while its costs have declined drastically. Putting the world on a path to reaching net zero emissions requires solar PV to expand globally on an even greater scale, raising concerns about security of manufacturing supply for achieving such rapid growth rates – but also offering new opportunities for diversification.

This special report examines solar PV supply chains from raw materials all the way to the finished product, spanning the five main segments of the manufacturing process: polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules. The analysis covers supply, demand, production, energy consumption, emissions, employment, production costs, investment, trade and financial performance, highlighting key vulnerabilities and risks at each stage. Because diversification is one of the key strategies for reducing supply chain risks, the report assesses the opportunities and challenges of developing solar PV supply chains in terms of job creation, investment requirements, manufacturing costs, emissions and recycling. Finally, the report summarises policy approaches that governments have taken to support domestic solar PV manufacturing and provides recommendations based on those.

This report examines the evolving challenges of maintaining energy security in the context of clean energy transitions on the pathway to net zero emissions. The report reflects on the security implications of the triple global crisis, the climate emergency, the global energy crisis and the social and economic implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report highlights key energy security concerns during energy transitions and provides governments, notably within the Group of Twenty (G20), with policy recommendations for maintaining and improving energy security, while accelerating clean energy transitions to address the triple crises. In the context of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources invited the International Energy Agency (IEA) to produce a second edition of its Security of Clean Energy Transitions report, the first having been published in 2021, building on the G20 Naples Principles.

In the run up to the Bali G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial in September 2022, this report is intended to support discussions among the G20 countries and further elaborate on the G20 Naples Principles, agreed at the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Naples in 2021, by providing analysis, insights and recommendations.

Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require a significant reduction in electricity sector emissions, with around half of these coming from systems that currently have liberalised electricity markets. In order to support a rapid decarbonisation of power systems, the design of these markets will need to evolve to ensure that they maximise the value delivered by existing and new low-carbon technologies. When policymakers design electricity markets, they need to consider the interactions between all parts of the market including wholesale, retail and capacity markets. At the same time, it is essential to ensure synergies with low-carbon investment frameworks and other decarbonisation policies.

This report identifies key principles for designing different parts of the market based on evidence from electricity markets globally and provides actionable guidelines to help policy makers match decarbonisation pledges with actions. With short-term wholesale markets as the starting point for generating efficient price signals, the report systematically considers the different parts of electricity markets, perspectives for integrating technologies such as distributed resources and storage, and how the design process fits with other decarbonisation policies and system planning. The principles derived from this analysis provide policy makers with market design tools in the context of new technologies and low-carbon transitions.

This report was commissioned by Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and carried out jointly by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Korea Energy Economics Institute. The objective of the study was to provide high-level policy recommendations on Korea’s clean energy transition from coal in the power sector. The report covers a detailed review of policy and market developments around Korea’s transition to net zero. The scope of the report includes all sectors of the economy, industry and all the regions across the world, where we extract the main recommendations that are applicable to the case of Korea.

Currently, the power sector is the largest CO2-emitting sector and coal is the single biggest source of CO2 emissions, as it is the backbone of many electricity systems. Thus, coal power plants have been a target for reaching net zero emissions by 2050 for long time. Korea has firm objectives to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, aiming to accelerate the clean energy transition of coal power plants. Policy recommendations were formulated around two priorities: affordable and secure supply of electricity and people-centred transition.