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Dear Readers,
 Time flies: Almost 100 days in my new job as REN21 Executive Secretary. How to describe them in one word? Excitement!
I am excited about the power of collaboration that has allowed us to produce another outstanding edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report which is already being used in many regions of the world. I would like to thank my team at the REN21 Secretariat, the GSR research direction and authoring team as well as the many hundreds of contributors in the REN21 network for their work, engagement, passion and continuous support. Personally, this gives me huge hope for the future: that, collectively, we can make the energy transition happen. Thank you!
I am also excited about the many opportunities to learn and contribute to change. Launching the GSR in my new role as Executive Secretary has shown me how important it is to use and present good data and information to tell an optimistic story while remaining realistic. And the reality is that the uptake of renewable energy in the power sector is exciting and shows that a transition is possible, but it is not enough. We need to look at those areas that are not advancing. We also need to leave our comfort zones and engage with relevant decision makers outside the (renewable) energy sphere.
And I am particularly excited about the future! ‘There is nothing permanent except change’. I am excited to navigate REN21 in this dynamic environment and to ensure that REN21 continues to evolve to support the renewable energy transition.
And finally, I am very excited to continue to develop further our multi-stakeholder network. I invite you to continue to engage with us and one and another, to use REN21 as a platform to collaborate to collectively make the renewable energy transition happen.
I look forward to our continuous collaboration.
Best regards,
Rana Adib
Executive Secretary of REN21
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News from the REN21 Secretariat
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What Happened in 2017: Status of renewables
 Transformation is picking up speed in the power sector, but urgent action is required in heating, cooling and transport. This year’s Renewables 2018 Global Status Report (GSR2018) reveals two realities: one in which a revolution in the power sector is driving rapid change towards a renewable energy future, and another in which the overall transition is not advancing with the speed needed.
The report was launched 4 June at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. Once more GSR2018 is paired with Advancing the Global Renewable Energy Transition: Highlights of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report (Highlights 2018) which helps readers understand the broad trends that defined the renewables sector in 2018.
The online presence of GSR2018 is built around the GSR microsite. Here you can find the full GSR2018 report by chapter along with its colourful infographics. References are easily accessible – hover your mouse over a reference and see all the sources, including hyperlinks. Use the GOOGLE translate function to read it in your native tongue. Usage of the microsite was up 30% already over 2017 numbers, illustrating the site’s popularity and ease of use.
In parallel the report’s findings have been presented at series of events 4-8 June in Brussels, Paris, Manilla, Moscow and Washington, D.C. REN21 community member Fundación Bariloche promoted the report at the G20 Energy Ministers Meeting in Argentina at the main side event hosted by CACME. Three webinars looked the central themes of GSR2018: Moving from electricity transition to energy transition; Renewables in heating, cooling and transport; and, Getting investment where it’s needed. The webinars were held in cooperation with another REN21 member, the Clean Energy Solutions Center. Recordings of these are available on the REN21 website (scroll down the page).
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Join us for "Building and Bridging: How to deliver at scale?" 12 July
 Join us in New York 12 July for a lively exchange on what can, should, and should not be done to ensure that renewables are at the scale necessary to meet 2030 objectives. The event will be held 10:00-13:00 on 12 July at the German Permanent Mission, 5 mins from the UN. The event is co-hosted with the German and Dutch governments. You can see a copy of the agenda here. Registration is a must – so please click here if you plan to join us. Copies of Highlights 2018 will be distributed; lunch is also offered.
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Save the Date
 Mark your calendars 11 September for “Be a Superhero for Sustainable Energy: Global strategies for mobilizing and building a clean and healthy future”. REN21 is partnering with other like-minded organisations to host an all-day event 11 September at the Global Climate Action Summit. The aim: to demonstrate the central role of renewables in meeting the 2030 agenda. The event will be held at the California College of the Arts, Nave Alcove in San Francisco. We will send out more information about this event via Twitter; Facebook and LinkedIn. If you would prefer to be kept updated via email, click here. |
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New Report Needs Your Input
 The SADC Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency along with REN21 have joined efforts to produce an SADC Regional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Status Report. This report builds on the highly successful 2015 Status Report. A draft of this report will be ready for peer review 12 July on REN21+.
REN21+ is an online platform that allows you to insert comments and text, quickly and easily. You can also see the comments of other reviewers. This open review process is the same one that is used for the Renewables Global Status Report series.
If you are interested in being a reviewer please let us know by clicking here. We will make sure that you receive a copy of the report and instructions for how to review it. All reviewers are acknowledge in the final report. To see what a final regional report report looks like, click here. Please help us make the report stronger! |
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We're Growing!
 Vibhushree Hamirwasia (Vhibu for short) joined the REN21 Secretariat in April to help us strengthen the REN21 community. She comes to us from Business Sweden in India where she was responsible for developing and managing community platforms in energy, education, and healthcare. Vhibu is currently developing a community strategy for REN21 which we will start to implement in the second half of 2018. You can contact her through a new REN21 community email address. |
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Data Protection
 Many of us based in Europe, or receiving information from European organisations, were subject to a flurry of emails in May about the European Union’s new privacy rule. Called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this new legislation is designed to unify data privacy requirements across the EU.
As a result, every organisation must clearly indicate how it will treat a person’s data. We contacted you about this in May. In case you missed it, please click NOW on the button below. For further information on our Privacy Policy, click here or send an email to secretariat@ren21.net. |
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Yes! I'd Like to Contribute to the Next Renewables Global Status Report
 REN21 is looking for people who would be interested in contributing to the next edition of its widely consulted Renewables Global Status Report (GSR) - whether by contributing data, acting as a peer reviewer, participating in interviews, or otherwise! We are specifically looking for contributors for the Distributed Renewables for Energy Access chapter, and experts in heating, cooling, and transport.
Please let us know you are interested in contributing to GSR 2019 by completing the short Expression of Interest Form. Do not hesitate to contact us should you have questions. We look forward to welcoming you as a member of the REN21 community! |
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New REN21 Members
 REN21 is proud to announce two new members: Mexico and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Mexicos's involvement comes on the heels of their organisation of MEXIREC, in cooperation with REN21, and in advance of the 2019 IREC in Seoul, South Korea. IEC is an international standards organisation that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology". Welcome on board! |
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Summer Hours
 Summer has hit Europe!
As a result, REN21 staff will heading out to enjoy the good weather. The REN21 Secretariat, however, will remain open over the holidays albeit with reduced staff.
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IHA publishes 2018 Hydropower Status Report
 A record 4,185 terawatt hours (TWh) in electricity was generated from hydropower in 2017, according to the 2018 Hydropower Status Report, published by the International Hydropower Association (IHA).
In 2017, the worldwide installed capacity of commissioned hydropower plants rose to 1,267 gigawatts (GW). By generating electricity from hydropower instead of coal, the world prevented approximately 4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases – and avoided a 10 per cent rise in global emissions from fossil fuels and industry – according to analysis by IHA. It also avoided 148 million tonnes of air polluting particulates, 62 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide, and 8 million tonnes of nitrogen oxide from being emitted.
The 2018 Hydropower Status Report, now in its fifth edition, provides statistics for installed capacity and estimated generation by country and by region. It offers insights and key trends on the sector, and features results of a sector-wide survey of leading decision-makers on the future of hydropower.
Leading energy and environment ministers from Australia, Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Scotland, UK, have contributed to this year’s report, explaining how investment in hydropower is supporting national development priorities and the clean energy transition. You can download the report here.
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New WWEA Study: Identifying success factors for wind power
 WWEA, together with the Korean Wind Energy Industry Association, identified key success factors across several key markets necessary for the uptake of wind power deployment. The study provides guidance for the government of the Republic of Korea which has recently decided to scale-up the deployment of wind power and other renewable energies. As part of this commitment, the government has begun to set up the appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks, based on practical experience learned from other parts of the world.
The work was built on reports from experts from five European wind energy markets (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom) who analysed the developments of their respective wind markets. Each analysis looked at policies and capacities in remuneration systems, permission procedures, social aspects, available wind data, domestic industrial capacities, institutions in R&D, training and education, export promotion policies. The aim of each study was to understand what has driven and hindered the wind power market in each countries. Collectively the results provide a comprehensive insight and answers to the usefulness of remuneration systems and permission systems in supporting the growth of a wind energy market.
The studies also documented the key players and actors in each country and the relevant R&D, education and export programmes in place. You can find the full results of this work here.
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Disseminating Best Practices to Ensure Safety and Reliability
 It is vital that equipment manufactured for the renewable energy sector adheres to strict International Standards and that there is a strong and independent system in place for testing and certification. It is not only about ensuring that a product or service does what it says on the box, but also for confirming the required levels of safety, quality, efficiency and effectiveness.
We created the IECRE (IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications) with these challenges in mind. The worldwide approval and certification system relies on broad stakeholder participation to make sure that the certificates meet real needs.
The IECRE System is highly valued because it is based on third-party evaluation carried out by accredited laboratories accepted to participate in the Conformity Assessment System. They provide independent testing and certification, which also reduces costs for manufacturers and consumers by eliminating the need for duplicative evaluations and certifications in different markets.
IECRE covers installation, equipment and services for use in wind energy, solar PV energy and soon in marine energy sectors.
The recent issue of our first certificate for best practices in the design, manufacturing and selection of materials for photovoltaic (PV) products (IEC TS 62941) is an important milestone for the IECRE. Certificates have already been issued for the wind energy sector.
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A Resource Efficient Pathway Towards a Greenhouse Gas Neutral Germany
 Germany could abate its GHG emissions by 95% and lower its raw material consumption (RMC) by almost 60% by 2050. This is the finding from “ GreenEe” Scenario of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
This is the first study to address climate mitigation and resource efficiency on a regional and global scale using a systemic approach. The future energy-systems are based on renewable energy carriers (100% REN).
The implementation and maintaining of the needed technologies comes with various synergies and trade-offs. For instance, increasing efficiency leads to less material use, this lowering energy demands – in the same time building up a low-carbon system creates increasing demand for materials (e.g. copper) and resources (e.g. land).
Mutual dependencies and feedback between resource conservation and climate protection require a systemic approach. This nexus of climate mitigation + resources use + energy supply is studied between 2010 and 2050 for Germany and on a global scale. The study considers foreseeable problems, solutions and routes transforming an industrialised country towards a greenhouse gas neutral and resource efficient society (e.g. copper availability or “power to liquid” in aviation).
The study also demonstrates that systemic and ambitious climate mitigation and resource efficiency policies are needed to achieve the goals. The study is the first of a set of scenarios showing different pathways into the future.
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Global Package of Measures Needed to Carry out the Energy Transition
 Fundación Bariloche’s document, "Towards a Sustainable Energy Transition; Proposals to face global challenges", includes more than two hundred measures that must be adopted urgently in Spain.
This new document outlines the need to take a step back and not to abandon the efforts made over the last two decades. For this reason, 2030 is taken as the reference year to achieve, in 2050, the decarbonisation of the energy system and the economy in general. The priority, along with efficiency measures, is to electrify to reach zero emissions in consumption. From the supply side, a plan is needed to replace fossil and nuclear energy.
The city is where change in the energy system is happening. The document therefore proposes using a fiscal policy to encourage good practices and to penalise those that should be limited. The proposed energy supply model aims to cover 50% of final energy demand with renewable electricity and 80% of electric generation thus multiplying the production of renewable energy three-fold. The EU's effort to mandate 32% of renewable energies by 2030 remarkable but insufficient.
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Registration is Now Open for EuroSun 2018
 It is our great pleasure to invite you to EuroSun 2018 in Rapperswil, Switzerland. This year’s conference will be held on the beautiful campus of the HSR University of Applied Science Rapperswil on Lake Zürich and takes place 10 - 13 September. View the program online. Early bird registration is open until 29 June 2018.
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Voices for Clean Energy Access in LAC Region Being Heard
Building on last year’s success with 70+ participants, the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) is organising a half-day Off-grid Workshop 28 August 2018 at Intersolar Sao Paulo. The objectives of “Empowering Communities through Clean Energy Access” are: 1) to raise awareness and to increase visibility for solutions offered by the off-grid industry active in LAC, by sharing business intelligence and best practices from inside/outside LAC;
2) to attract investors and financiers to further enhance market and business developments by sharing actual information about LAC markets, including trends and innovations as well as upcoming business opportunities; and,
3) to promote private-private and public-private dialogues leading to common initiatives by extracting key recommendations from panel discussions on how to best accelerate energy access in LAC.
The workshop will be followed by a networking reception.
Want to know more about the workshop sessions? Want to get involved and create an impact? Check our sponsorship and/or speaker benefits & details about the workshop here. Deadline is 29 June 2018. For any queries, please contact Apoorva Satpathy.
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Upcoming Events
July 2018
High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2018
New York, U.S. 9 - 18 July, 2018 | Event details
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