In 2013, the Pacific leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
a sustainable future through the adoption of national renewable energy and
energy efficiency targets as outlined in the Majuro Declaration on Climate
Leadership.
While these commitments are encouraging, for countries to
succeed in achieving them, much rests on collaborative efforts made today.
Achieving renewable energy targets, for instance, requires immense capital and
resources: a challenge to most of the Pacific Islands. Access to
up-to-date, accurate and appropriate data is also of critical importance.
The training is timely in overcoming the constraints Pacific
Island governments face in achieving renewable energy targets, says SPC’s
Economic Development Division Director, John Hogan.
‘This training is very important for the region for two
reasons,’ added Mr Hogan. ‘Firstly it is a direct response to Pacific leaders’
decision to pursue renewable energy targets through the development of a
comprehensive approach to data collection. Secondly, it provides an
opportunity for countries to discuss on the constraints inhibiting the
achievement of these targets.’
The growth of renewable energy is not accurately captured in
energy statistics and even when multiple data sources exist, there are often
significant problems relating to quality, consistency and comparability of data
sources. Efforts to address these issues will contribute to
establishing the Pacific Regional Data Repository (PRDR), which will
assist countries to formulate national policies to support the implementation
of their renewable energy targets.
‘The energy needs and opportunities in the Pacific region,
coupled with the political will of its leadership, made the Pacific Islands an
early programmatic priority for IRENA,’ said Ms Gauri Singh, Director of
Country Support and Partnerships, IRENA. ‘Although the Pacific islands require
targeted assistance, many share similar challenges. We hope that this
training workshop will facilitate knowledge sharing and interaction with
experts, and amongst the Pacific Island states, in response to some
of those needs.’
The training workshop is bringing together stakeholders from
member countries of both SPC and IRENA, including representatives from energy
departments, power utilities and regulatory authorities. The participants are
expected to gain confidence in using the PRDR, in addition to understanding the
processes involved in defining, collecting and disseminating energy data to feed
into the PRDR and also serve their national objectives.
Based on priority areas of support requested by the member
countries, relevant policy mechanisms for small islands that contribute to
fulfilling the renewable energy target will be discussed. This includes best
practice to design net metering and feed-in tariff schemes in addition to
discussing options for utility-led models for renewable energy project
development. Participants will also be introduced to best practice and key
requirements for bankable power purchase agreements.
The PRDR for the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL)
initiative will be launched at the Third International Conference on Small
Island Developing States in Samoa next month.
Sustainable energy is one of six plenary meetings scheduled
to take place at the SIDS conference. Sustainable energy is also part of the
multi-stakeholder partnership dialogue which will run in parallel with the
plenary meetings.
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