International Renewable Energy Conference

Last updated February 18, 2024

The International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC) is a meeting of senior-level representatives, such as those from the Executive and Legislative branches of national or sub-national governments, international organizations, the finance and business community, or civil societies, working towards the advancement and integration of renewable energy in their countries.

History

Initiated at the Renewables 2004 conference in Bonn, Germany, IREC is a high-level political conference series dedicated to renewable energy policy worldwide. Dedicated exclusively to the renewable energy sector, IRECs are hosted by alternate Governments every two years and convened by REN21.

One of the major accomplishments of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, was the recognition that renewable energy is a critical component of sustainable development, energy security, climate change, and air quality.

Worldwide enthusiasm for renewable energy has increased dramatically since WSSD.

The 2005 conference was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing from 7th–8th of November, 2005. The conference called the world to consider renewable energy alternatives in a time of high oil prices.

Washington

The Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008) was held March 4–6, 2008.

New Delhi

The Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC 2010) was held 27–29 October 2010, in New Delhi, India.

Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi Renewable Energy Conference (ADIREC) was held in Abu Dhabi in January 2013. In a declaration, participants called for the world's shares of renewable energy to double by 2030 under the leadership of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

South Africa

In October 2015, South Africa became the sixth country, and the first in Africa, to host the International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC). The South African International Renewable Energy Conference – SAIREC 2015 – provided a global platform for government ministers, high-level decision makers, experts, specialists and thought leaders, as well as private sector players and civil society, to discuss and exchange their vision, experiences and solutions to accelerate the global scale-up of renewable energy.

From 4–7 October South Africa welcomed 3,600 delegates from more than 80 countries.

This international event comprised 24 conference sessions featuring more than 150 speakers, 41 side events, 35 technical site visits and 56 exhibitors, providing extensive opportunities for delegates to discuss, learn and network.

SAIREC provided a platform to address energy security and access. Under the theme of RE-Energising Africa, SAIREC demonstrated why Africa is the business destination for the renewables energy sector. It also provided Africa with a unique opportunity to showcase its nascent yet promising renewable energy industry and gain experience from best practices as adopted in countries at the forefront of renewable energy deployment.

In parallel REN21 launched the SADC Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Status Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the region. It covers the 15 SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The report is available for download on the REN21 website along with a series of infographics. SAIREC was co-hosted by South Africa's Department of Energy together with the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), under the leadership of the Minister of Energy, Honorable Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson (MP), with REN21 and with the final support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ. See the REN21 website for the conference report, full Declaration text, and photos

Mexico City

The renewable energy community came together in Mexico City mid-September under the banner of the International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC). The Mexico

International Renewable Energy Conference (MEXIREC) was the 7th in this conference series, continuing the tradition of convening government and non-state actors around the development of renewable energy policy.

MEXIREC's agenda was designed to encourage a systems approach to energy where the generation and use of renewable energy are analysed from an integrated and multifaceted perspective. The conference demonstrated how this diversification is occurring, not only in Latin American and the Caribbean but elsewhere in the world.

Over the course of two days, more than 1,600 delegates participated in talks and presentations that revolved around five thematic areas: Policy and Finance; Electricity Sector and Infrastructure; Heating and Cooling/Transport; Energy Access/Local Value Creation; and Technology Innovations. The presence and active participation of young professionals and women was particularly encouraging. It ended with presentation and acceptance of the Conference Declaration.

In parallel a new report, Renewable Energy Tenders and Community [Em]power[ment]: Latin America and the Caribbean was launched. The bi-lingual report (English/Spanish) examines both the rise of tendering and community power projects in the region and proposes an accession process to reconcile the tension between maximising economic returns and social impact.

MEXIREC was the leading event of the “Dialogues for the Future of Energy, Mexico 2017” (DEMEX). It was held 11–13 September 2017 at the Expo Santa Fe Convention Center, Mexico City and co-organized by SENER and REN21 will the support of the German government. See the REN21 website for the conference report, full Declaration text, photos and much more.

IREC 2023 will be held in Madrid. Spain's ambition to become a clean and renewable country has peaked the interest of the IREC.

Official Side Events

Official Side Events are a forum for non-governmental, governmental, and/or inter-governmental partners to showcase their projects/programs in front of a high level public and private sector audience.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Botswana</span>

The economy of Botswana is currently one of the world's fastest growing economies, averaging about 5% per annum over the past decade. Growth in private sector employment averaged about 10% per annum during the first 30 years of the country's independence. After a period of stagnation at the turn of the 21st century, Botswana's economy registered strong levels of growth, with GDP growth exceeding 6–7% targets. Botswana has been praised by the African Development Bank for sustaining one of the world's longest economic booms. Economic growth since the late 1960s has been on par with some of Asia's largest economies. The government has consistently maintained budget surpluses and has extensive foreign-exchange reserves.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 association countries of the IEA represent 75% of global energy demand.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.

The Monterrey Consensus was the outcome of the 2002 Monterrey Conference, the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development. in Monterrey, Mexico. It was adopted by Heads of State and Government on 22 March 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">REN21</span>

REN21 is a think tank and a multistakeholder governance group which is focused on renewable energy policy.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) by driving financial and non-financial investments in the social and economic infrastructure sectors".

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is a Vienna-based international organisation that advances markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets and developing countries. Its primary focus is in de-risking and scaling up clean energy business models.

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. In 2019, nearly 75% of new installed electricity generation capacity used renewable energy and the International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that by 2025, renewable capacity will meet 35% of global power generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Wind Energy Association</span>

The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) is an international non-profit association representing the wind power sector worldwide, with members in 100 countries, amongst them the leading national and regional wind energy associations. The organisation works for the promotion and worldwide deployment of wind energy technology and advocates a future energy system based on renewable energy.

The renewable-energy industry is the part of the energy industry focusing on new and appropriate renewable energy technologies. Investors worldwide have paid greater attention to this emerging industry in recent years. In many cases, this has translated into rapid renewable energy commercialization and considerable industry expansion. The wind power, solar power and hydroelectric power industries provide good examples of this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Rae</span> Australian politician

Peter Elliot Rae AO is an Australian retired politician who represented the Liberal Party for the state of Tasmania in the Australian Senate. He served as a Senator from 1967 until his resignation in January 1986. He was subsequently elected to the division of Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly at the February 1986 election, serving until his defeat on 13 May 1989.

Renewable energy in developing countries is an increasingly used alternative to fossil fuel energy, as these countries scale up their energy supplies and address energy poverty. Renewable energy technology was once seen as unaffordable for developing countries. However, since 2015, investment in non-hydro renewable energy has been higher in developing countries than in developed countries, and comprised 54% of global renewable energy investment in 2019. The International Energy Agency forecasts that renewable energy will provide the majority of energy supply growth through 2030 in Africa and Central and South America, and 42% of supply growth in China.

Mandatory renewable energy targets are part of government legislated schemes which require electricity merchandisers to source-specific amounts of aggregate electricity sales from renewable energy sources according to a fixed time frame. The objective of these schemes is to promote renewable energy and decrease dependency on fossil fuels. If this results in an additional expenditure of electricity, the additional cost is distributed across most customers by increases in other tariffs. The cost of this measure is therefore not funded by the government budgets, except for costs of establishing and monitoring the scheme and any audit and enforcement actions. As the cost of renewable energy has become cheaper than other sources, meeting and exceeding a renewable energy target will also reduce the expenditure of electricity to consumers.

The International Hydropower Association (IHA) is an international lobby group and membership association representing the global hydropower sector.

Energy in Botswana is a growing industry with tremendous potential. However almost all Botswana's electricity is generated from coal. No petroleum reserves have been identified and all petroleum products are imported refined, mostly from South Africa. There is extensive woody biomass from 3 to 10t / hectare.

The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is an annual event hosted in the United Arab Emirates, aiming to advance future energy, energy efficiency, and clean technologies. It began in 2008, held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Geothermal power in Indonesia is an increasingly significant source of renewable energy. As a result of its volcanic geology, it is often reported that Indonesia has 40% of the world's potential geothermal resources, estimated at 28,000 megawatts (MW).

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), established in 1982, is a non-profit organization working with clean energy. It is based in Latham, New York.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organisation to focus exclusively on renewable energy, addressing needs in both industrialised and developing countries. It was founded in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010. The agency is headquartered in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. The Director-General of IRENA is Francesco La Camera, a national of Italy. IRENA is an official United Nations observer.

Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Evidence shows that extreme weather events are becoming more prominent due to climate change. This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect the overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards to water resources. Just like many other parts of the world, climate research showed that the real challenge in South Africa was more related to environmental issues rather than developmental ones. The most severe effect will be targeting the water supply, which has huge effects on the agriculture sector. Speedy environmental changes are resulting in clear effects on the community and environmental level in different ways and aspects, starting with air quality, to temperature and weather patterns, reaching out to food security and disease burden.

References

Bibliography

This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government
This article also incorporates material from https://www.ren21.net/events/irecs/.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.