By Pita Ligaiula in Abu Dhabi, UAE
ABU DHABI, 19 APRIL 2024 (PACNEWS) —- President of the 14th International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly and Rwandan Minister of Infrastructure, Dr Jimmy Gasore says the shifts towards renewable electricity and green hydrogen are crucial to reducing carbon emissions, requiring a redesign and strengthening of energy infrastructure.
Speaking at the Ministerial Roundtable ‘Infrastructure for the Energy Transition: Utilities for Net Zero Alliance’, he said the roundtable discussion aims to address the crucial role of infrastructure in the energy transition and achieving the goal of tripling renewables by 2030.
Key discussions address overcoming barriers, accelerating the energy transition to cut emissions, and unlocking the utility sector’s potential to meet Net Zero targets by addressing structural, regulatory, and financial challenges.
“Achieving this ambitious target requires a fundamental transformation of our energy infrastructure,” said IRENA Director General, Francesco La Camera on the changes needed to meet tripling targets and doubling energy efficiency.
“This includes modernising and expanding electricity grids and integrating storage solutions,” he said
UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company(TAQA) CEO and Co-Chair Utilities for Net Zero Alliance(UNEZA), Jasim Thabet, spoke on the ambitious actions needed to modernise and expand the current energy infrastructure in the shift towards renewable energy.
“We need a ‘Marshall plan’ for power infrastructure development, and it is not an exaggeration to say that we literally need to rewire the energy system today,” said Thabet.
He highlighted the importance of global cooperation across industries and governments needed to make a significant difference in upgrading the energy grid to accelerate the energy transition, tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
“The alliance members collectively reaffirm their commitment to increase their combined renewable energy capacity to 750 gigawatts by 2030, which is close to 2.5 times their joint capacity today,” he explained.
Co-Chair of UNEZA, Martin Pibworth spoke on the role that the governments can have in incentivising the build-up of reliable renewable energy solutions to modernise the infrastructure needed for the energy transition.
“Offshore wind, which has been a major success story in the UK, has been the engine behind the decarbonising of the power sector.
There are many positive lessons to take from this, including the value of long-term government commitments enshrined in good law and innovative policy mechanisms to derisk investments to lower the cost of capital,” he stated.
IRENA Director of Country Engagement and Partnerships, Gurbuz Gonul called for attention to urgent actions and international cooperation.
“Together we can join our sources to build the fact base and foundation towards a net-zero future,” emphasising an approach focused on action to implement projects on the ground based on best practices to accelerate the energy transition in the power sector,” said Gonul.
“The main challenge for public authorities to succeed in the energy transitions is the financing of networks and the interconnection of networks and the financing of infrastructure.” said Philippe Henry, Minister of Climate, Energy, Mobility, and Infrastructure of the Walloon Region, Belgium, on the challenges faced by the public sector.
He said the private sector can help address the infrastructure and labour shortages that have slowed down the pace of renewables adoption and installation of relevant infrastructure.
“It is important to have collaboration on the international level and the local level to facilitate the holistic approach needed for the energy transition.”
Luc Rémont, CEO, EDF said their ambition at EDF is to accelerate towards net zero emissions as quickly as possible.
“Currently, we have surpassed the industry average with CO2 emissions at 37 grams per kilowatt-hour, and we are aiming to achieve 22 grams by 2035. In Europe, the average is much higher at 251 grams per kilowatt-hour, providing a clear benchmark for our journey ahead,” he said…. PACNEWS