Introduction
In Post 37, Climate Scorecard Country Managers from leading greenhouse gas emitting countries provide descriptions of a best renewable energy practice in their country – what is it? How does it work? What technology is involved? What are the skills needed to implement it? Where does it take place? How many people use this resource?
Our country descriptions also provide an analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of these best practices. To what degree are they lessening emissions? What are the costs related to the production and/or consumption of the renewable energy best practice? How do usage costs contract with comparable fossil fuel usage costs?
Country Best Practice Summaries
The Asian Renewable Energy Hub (Australia): installed 26GW wind and solar generating capacity (with a projected >70% utilization rate on a daily basis) spread over a 6,600km2 site in remote Western Australia.
Fonte dos Ventos (Brazil): Brazil’s first hybrid energy park.
Halifax Solar City (Canada): offers property owners access to solar energy options at a discounted cost
Suntech and Longi Green Energy Company (China): Government supported solar energy companies
The Nextbase Project (European Union): seeks to improve solar energy production and consumption
An Incentive Scheme to Promote the Self-Consumption of Renewable Energy (France)
Impact Mitigation to Enhance Wind Power Construction (Germany)
The State of Gujarat SKY Project (India): enable 12,400 farmers in 33 districts of the state to generate solar power and use part of that power for irrigation while selling the surplus to the grid.
The Sindrap Wind Farm (Indonesia): Is using impact mitigation practices to minimize the damage to the local environment from the construction of wind power stations.
Energia Agricola (Italy): A project that is developing a sustainable model of energy transition based on solar PV and blockchain technologies.
Feed-In Tariff Scheme (Japan): makes it mandatory for power companies to buy electricity generated by certified power generating renewable sources at fixed prices set by the government.
Solar Bond (Mexico): a mechanism to transfer part of the expenditure in electric subsidies towards the acquisition and installation of photovoltaic modules.
Energy for All (Nigeria): aims to provide solar panels to 5 million households that are not currently on the grid.
Microgeneration Law (Russia): A small-scale generation of heat and electric power by individuals, small businesses, and communities to meet their own needs as an alternative to centralized grid-connected power
The Sakaka Solar Plant and Dumat al-Jandal Wind Farm (Saudi Arabia): two renewable energy pilot projects being funded by the Government
Kagnas Wind Farm (South Africa): A wind farm eliminates an estimated 550,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually in comparison to power plants that use fossil fuels; additionally, the energy generation process requires virtually no water, an advantage in a water scarce country.
Korean Green New Deal (South Korea): a plan for industrial decarbonization that includes the development of a large data platform, industrial integration of 5G networks and artificial intelligence, and the introduction of smart working and low-carbon industrial complexes.
Vialadamat Photovoltaic Crowdfunding Project (Spain): The use of community financing to support solar energy in municipal buildings.
Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff System (YEKDEM) (Turkey): supports electricity production from renewable energy resources with the guarantee of a high purchase price.
The DOLPHYN Project (United Kingdom): A plan to use an integrated water treatment unit and PEM electrolysers for localized hydrogen production off the coast of Aberdeen (Scotland) to supply heat and energy for transport
The City of the Sun (Ukraine): aims at establishing its own solar power plants on municipal buildings and encourages average citizens to buy shares, therefore enabling them to contribute to solar energy production and earn money through energy sales into the grid.
The Sunshot Initiative (United States): A government initiative that seeks to lower costs, improve performance, and speed the deployment of solar energy technologies.
Country Reports
Renewable Energy (Production and Distribution) Best Practice in Australia
Post submitted by Australia Country Manager Julian Atchison The Asian Renewable Energy Hub The Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) is one of two renewable energy export “mega-projects” currently in development in Australia. The full scope of the project makes for impressive reading; there will be 26GW installed wind and solar generating capacity (with a projected…
Brazil Climate Best Practice: Fonte dos Ventos, Brazil’s First Hybrid Energy Park
By Climate Scorecard Brazil Country Manager Elis Cotosky Brazil has the largest renewable energy potential in the world. Over the past few years, both wind and solar have proven to be a good, and increasingly cheap, alternative to fossil fuels. These energy sources have grown more than 20 times from 2009 to 2019, representing more…
Climate Best Practice in Canada: Halifax Solar City
Submitted by Climate Scorecard Canada Country Manager Diane Szoller Renewable energy resources are on the rise in Canada and are expected to continue growing in the future. The Halifax Solar City (HSC) program is the first of its kind in Canada. This project is a community renewable best practice which offers property owners access to…
The Chinese Government as Solar Power Entrepreneur and the Examples of Suntech and Longi Green Energy Technology Company
Geopolitical interests drive creation of solar energy leaders Over the past 20 years China has emerged as the world leader in solar energy technology. At the end of 2019, China’s total installed capacity of solar PV power made up 204 GW of energy. Government investment into solar panel producers, subsidies, and access to government bank…
NEXTBASE Project Promises Environmentally-Friendly and Efficient Renewable Energy Alternative in the EU
By Climate Scorecard EU Manager Brittany DemogenesIn December 2018, a recast Renewable Energy Directive in the EU entered into force. The recast directive sets a binding renewable energy target of at least 32% by 2030 with a clause for potential upward revision by 2023. In 2019, for the first time ever, EU power production from…
An Incentive Scheme to Promote the Self-Consumption of Renewable Energy in France
By Climate Scorecard France Country Manager Stephanie TapolskyAs seen in Figure 1, renewables make up only a minor portion of France’s total energy supply. Evaluating solar and wind generation specifically, there has been notable growth since 2010 after essentially no capacity beforehand. With respect to total renewable energy capacity in 2015, the majority (62.08%) of…
Wind Power Construction Impact Mitigation in Germany
Submitted by Climate Scorecard Germany Country Manager Zahi Badra When looking at Germany’s complex renewable energy market, one practice can be easily identified as a massive leap forward. In 2020, wind energy was already the largest source of electricity for the German market, accounting for 62.2GW of electricity—7.7GW of which from offshore installations. These numbers…
Government of India Solar Pumping Programs and Stats of Gujurat Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) Project
By Climate Scorecard India Country Manager Pooran Chandra Pandey Successful farming in India typically requires irrigation and only 48% of the country’s “net sown area” is irrigated, the rest is dependent on the vagaries of nature. Of the country’s net amount of irrigated land, 62% is watered either by relatively deep tube wells or by…
Construction Impact Mitigation: The Sindap Wind Farm in Indonesia
By Climate Scorecard Indonesia Country Manager Ruby OrinOne best practice associated with wind power is construction impact mitigation. Given that wind farms have to be built in a designated environment, it is good to evaluate the grounds upon which they are being built to minimize the impact of the wind farm on the establishment. This…
Energia Agricola a km 0: the First 100% Renewable Agro-Energy Community in Italy
By Climate Scorecard Italy Country Manager Andrea Bruno Italy has made strong progress in energy policy development, notably through the publication of the National Energy Strategy in 2013 (IEA, 2021). Such policy is strongly pro-renewables, which spurred exceptional growth in the renewable energy sector. Indeed, Italy reached its 2020 energy strategy target of 17% of renewables…
Climate Best Practice: Kagnas Wind Farm in South Africa
By Climate Scorecard South Africa Country Manager Andrew Hall Presently, the largest combined renewable energy source in South Africa is wind energy with a combined total capacity of 2,078 MegaWatts (MW) generated by approximately 23 wind farms throughout the country. By 2030 it is projected that wind energy will make up to 22.7% of South…
Renewable Energy Best Practice in the UK: The Dolphyn Project
By Climate Scorecard UK Country Managers Thomas Christensen & Gwen Wren Background Offshore Wind: Largest Source of Renewable Energy in the UK Offshore wind is the fastest growing source of renewable energy in the United Kingdom. According to the IEA, 33% of the UK’s share of electricity generation in 2019 came from wind energy….
Japan’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Scheme
Submitted by Climate Scorecard Japan Country Manager Yun-Tzu-LinOne of Japan’s most effective practices for distributing renewable energy has been the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) scheme introduced in July 2012 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) under the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Procurement of Renewable Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities. The…
Nigeria’s Energy for All Solar Power Plan
By Climate Scorecard Nigeria Country Manager Peter Hansen When it comes to finding the best practice related to Nigeria’s production and/or distribution of renewable energy, there is not much information since the country is severely lacking in renewable energy production. In fact, only 0.35% of Nigeria’s total energy supply comes from hydropower and just…
Turkey’s Feed-In Tariff System of the Renewable Energy Sources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM)
By Climate Scorecard Turkey Country Manager Barış Can Sever One of Turkey’s best practices in renewable energy production is the feed-in tariff system of the Renewable Energy Sources Support Mechanism (YEKDEM). However, while the mechanism aims to accelerate investments in renewable energy production, it contains several controversial aspects in its approach and implementation. Before revealing…
Sakaka Solar Plant and Dumat al-Jandal Wind Farm in Saudi Arabia
By Climate Scorecard Saudi Arabia Country Managers Abeer Abdulkareem and Amgad Ellaboudy Most of the renewable energy projects in Saudi Arabia are either at the tender-bidding, construction and installation, or production trial phases. Therefore, it is too early to elicit the best practices in the production or distribution of renewable energy projects in the…
Korea Green New Deal
Submitted by Climate Scorecard South Korea Country Manager Hatyja NuriyevaBackground Korea’s energy market is in part characterized by total primary energy supply (TPES), 85% of which was fossil fuels in 2018. The country is heavily reliant on energy imports and 55% of its total final consumption is comprised of industrial energy usage. Among all IEA…
Crowdfunding to Finance a Photovoltaic Installation in Viladamat, Spain
By Climate Scorecard Spain Country Manager Wendy Pareles Image Source: https://www.buildup.eu/en/news/green-investment-how-energy-crowdfunding-worksThrough the Interreg Europe initiative, whose objective is to make renewable energies accessible to vulnerable persons, the Powerty Project’s framework presents a scheme that reflects Spain’s renewable energy best practices.The municipality Viladamat of 440 inhabitants in the province of Girona, is the first in Spain…
The Mexican Climate Initiative Solar Bond Program
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Mexico Country Manager Sara Zetune Image Source: Illumexico Distributed solar power generation for residential use has been, until now, a feasible option that only high electricity consumers choose. Even during a pandemic the distributed generation interconnection contracts submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) increased from 1,031.59 MW…
Microgeneration Law in Russia
By Climate Scorecard Russia Country Manager Maria Stambler (Photo: bankstoday.net)Microgeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and electric power by individuals, small businesses, and communities to meet their own needs as an alternative to centralized grid-connected power. Although this may be motivated by practical considerations (i.e. unreliable grid power, long distance from the electrical grid) the term is mainly…
The City of the Sun Project in Ukraine
By Climate Scorecard Ukraine Country Manager Anastasia Bushovska Slavutych, population 25 000, is a Ukrainian city developed for the evacuated personnel of Chernobyl. In 2019, funded by equity crowdfunding, the “City of the Sun” project was created to promote the use of solar energy among the population. The city aimed at establishing its own solar…
The SunShot Initiative in the US
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard US Country Manager Stephanie GagnonThe United States invests heavily in research and development (R&D) to improve efficiency and reduce costs of renewable energy. Through the successful SunShot Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Solar Technologies Office (SETO) invests hundreds of millions of dollars in reducing the…