IRENA, GGGI to jointly promote renewables

According to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this week, IRENA and Seoul-based GGGI will work together to analyze renewables-based solutions, in addition to jointly hosting events.

“The energy transformation enables low-carbon growth, stimulating job creation, delivering socio-economic benefits and offering economic opportunity to citizens and communities all over the world,” said Adnan Z. Amin, director-general of IRENA. “As we look to accelerate the deployment of renewables in line with climate objectives, this agreement will enhance the ability of both organizations to strengthen their country-level engagement.”

Separately, Abu Dhabi-based IRENA also announced that it will co-host a number of discussion sessions this week at Africa Climate Week 2019 (ACW) in Accra, Ghana. The event — one of three regional climate-focused forums that are being held in the lead-up to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in September — aims to strengthen stakeholder engagement in the continent’s energy and agricultural sectors.

“Although Africa is rich in renewable energy resources, penetration of renewables has lagged behind other regions,” IRENA said in an online statement. “However, as costs have fallen the deployment of solar PV, concentrated solar power and onshore wind has started to accelerate, albeit unevenly across the continent.”

IRENA noted that the weighted average cost for utility-scale PV projects in Africa stood at $0.122/kWh in 2018 — roughly 40% above the global average. It is hosting a number of events at ACW 2019, including the NDC Dialogue, which will focus on ways to help African countries meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. It is also co-hosting sessions on the use of technology in the global energy transition, as well as a roundtable discussion that will partly focus on the way cities throughout Africa can deploy renewables to help mitigate climate change.

In January, IRENA selected Francesco La Camera, an Italian COP negotiator and environmental public servant to take over from Amin as the organization’s next director-general.