In this episode of the Power for All podcast, Kristina Skierka speaks with Glenn Pearce-Oroz, Senior Director of International Relations and Special Projects at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) on trends to watch out for in the Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) sector in 2022. At the beginning of every year, Power for All releases a trends report that highlights anticipated developments that will shape the sector in the year informed by feedback from a survey to partners on their predictions for the year.
Some Highlights of the Discussions
The discussions kicked off with one of the anticipated events of the year by the sector, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) which will be held in Egypt later this year after the rather eventful COP26 held in Glasgow in 2021. Glenn agrees that an African COP is going to be extremely helpful not just for the continent but for the Global South countries to follow up on the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and urge for a just and fair energy transition, among others.
“.. Because by addressing the equitable nature of energy transition, we start opening the space for all these other priorities that are a reality in poor countries, such as the pending agenda for universal access to energy, such as reliable electricity for health clinics and for educational facilities, such as the need to industrialize and, and continue economic growth,” Glenn said.
Balancing Global Narratives and Local Realities
“Part of the challenges is recognizing that while we do have global measurements for certain things but the pathways to a just equitable energy transition locally, or within countries, or within specific economies, will clearly look different. .. I do think we need to balance much better this global narrative with what's happening on the ground in different economies,” he noted.
Unlocking Financing for Energy Transition
The discussion also looked at the financing and why the $100 billion annual target by 2020 that was promised many years ago has not been met. Glen admits this is very discouraging but draws consolation from the words of Yuval Noah Harari from Israel who recently said that we have one advantage over the coronavirus and that is, we can coordinate with each other. We know how to do that.
“This is potentially inspiring... I think the caveat there is that we have the potential to coordinate with each other. ..And so I'm thinking of how we can reform, identify, look for different ways .. to unlock a lot of the public money that's needed, but also to leverage the private money that's out there,” Glenn commented.
Addressing Bottlenecks in DRE Innovations
An anticipated trend for 2022 is the exponential growth of e-mobility in developing countries driven by innovations around electric two and three-wheelers. Glenn notes that while there's a big opportunity in e-mobility and, there is a lot of innovation going on, there are challenges that will still need to be addressed. These include road safety, reliability of electricity, and charging infrastructure, among others. “While we want to encourage more innovation, but also ...we cannot take our eyes off of all the other kinds of supporting functions that are required for these technologies to move forward,” he pointed out.
