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Renewable Energy

Introduction

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Contributing directly to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on Energy - SDG7, we focuses on tracking progress, facilitating regulatory and policy dialogue, and sharing best practices on various renewable energy sources, including bioenergy. With a view to promoting renewable energy investments, the aim is to substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix (40% of global installed capacity is now renewable (IRENA, 2022).

UNECE is taking active steps through its dedicated Group of Experts on Renewable Energy (GERE) to promote renewables with a nexus approach and integrated planning of interlinked resources across sectors, towards the implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the last years, the UNECE region has observed a record scale-up in the uptake of renewable energy technologies (as in the whole world, almost 50% annual growth in new capacity in 2023, IEA). Renewables are becoming a mainstream solution to provide sustainable, affordable and reliable power supply to the region’s 310 million people. The accelerated transition to low-carbon energy in the region reflects an increasing recognition of the multiple benefits that renewable energy provides for national energy security, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and enhanced access to and resilience of the energy supply, along with the improvement in environmental quality and people’s health.

UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022

In focus

The REN21 UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022: renewables and energy efficiency offer an opportunity for a secure and sovereign energy supply in the region.

Released on 14 September, the UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022 was prepared jointly by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It provides the latest update on the status of renewables and energy efficiency in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.  

The region has seen an unprecedented growth in renewable electricity since 2018. The transport and heating and cooling sectors have not seen such increases. Public and private investment in renewables across the focus countries remains modest compared to global growth trends. Countries of the region need significant investment in renewables.

Between 2017 and 2021, 17 countries of South-East and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, plus Kosovo, saw an unprecedented growth in renewable power capacity. Over this period, they cumulatively added 21 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, for a total installed renewable power capacity of 106 GW. For the first time, this growth was driven mainly by solar photovoltaic (PV) (58%) and wind power (25%) additions. The region’s wind power capacity grew by more than a factor of 7 and solar PV capacity by more than a factor of 10 between 2017 and 2021.

The report highlights how renewables and energy efficiency offer an opportunity for a secure and sovereign energy supply in the region, which continues to depend heavily on fossil fuel sources and relies on a limited number of energy exporters. Breakthrough growth in renewables in South-East and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia must be accelerated to end fossil dependency and boost energy security.

The REN21 UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022 is available HERE.

The report was launched on 14 September 2022

Study to Support Energy Crops Along Roads and Highways in Ukraine

The objective of the Study to Support Energy Crops Along Roads and Highways in Ukraine is to analyze potential for the development of energy crops along highways, taking into account the use of crop plantations as highway protection as well as for economic and environmental benefits. The analysis is based on economic evaluation, assessment of the legislative framework with a view of proposing a pilot project and possible modifications to the legislation and therefore creating a suitable environment for investments in energy crops along roads and highways at a larger scale in Ukraine.

Study to Support Energy Crops Along Roads and Highways in Ukraine

Highlights

 
 

UNECE Study to Support Energy Crops Along Roads and Highways in Ukraine: objective to analyze potential for the development of energy crops along highways, taking into account the use of crop plantations as highway protection as well as for economic and environmental benefits.

UNECE Sustainable Energy Division is implementing extrabudgetary project “Addressing the compounded food and energy crisis in Ukraine through innovative technologies and adaptive agricultural practices.” Objective: To equip the Government of Ukraine with an objective and comprehensive analysis of the biofuel production potential to solve the compound food/energy crisis in Ukraine.

The REN21 UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022: the Report was prepared jointly by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It provides the latest update on the status of renewables and energy efficiency in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.  

Financing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Investments for Climate Change Mitigation - FINAL REPORT  -  The purpose of this final report is to review the implementation of the project Financing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Investments for Climate Change Mitigation (FEEI) and to evaluate the extent to which the main project objectives were achieved. (7 November 2018)

UNECE Sustainable Energy Division implemented Menu of Efficient and Economic Technologies and Policies to Promote Them in the ECE Region is here proposed as a working document  for a framework to exchange best practices in policies in order to accelerate renewable energy uptake in the region. It is the basis for a practical tool for collection, classification, exchange and use of information on concrete cases.

UNECE Sustainable Energy Division implemented a field project "Application of biogas technology model for rural areas in Kyrgyzstan:  Objective: To introduce a cost-effective green technology biogas mode in the rural area of Kyrgyzstan. (October 2018)

UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the UNECE have joined together to produce the UNECE Regional Renewable Energy Status Report 2015ToR of the UNECE Status Report.

Upcoming Events

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Recent Events

13 - 15 September

Tempus, Palais des Nations Geneva Switzerland

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