IRENA Policy Talks - Green hydrogen for industrial decarbonisation of Central Asia and the South Caucasus

14 March 2024, 14:00 – 15:30 GST

“Green Hydrogen for Sustainable Industrial Development”

As the global community intensifies efforts to transition towards a more sustainable and equitable energy future, the role of green hydrogen in decarbonizing industrial sectors and fostering economic growth in developing countries has never been more critical. The “Green hydrogen for sustainable industrial development: A policy toolkit for developing countries” report, co-authored by UNIDO, IRENA and IDOS offers groundbreaking insights into harnessing green hydrogen for sustainable development, emphasizing its potential to drive domestic value creation, job creation, and international competitiveness. A central theme of the report is the promotion of a just transition approach to green hydrogen development. Emphasising the importance of policy coordination, it introduces a ‘clover approach’ comprising four key elements: prioritising local use of green hydrogen; alignment with national objectives; starting with small- to medium-sized projects; and the phased implementation of green hydrogen production and applications. This approach ensures that green hydrogen production contributes to sustainable development, technological advancement and job creation in developing countries.

The fifth IRENA Policy Talk 2024 presented the key findings of the report.

This webinar launched globally the report, presenting its key findings and insights. By inviting experts on hydrogen and industrial development, it explored actionable strategies for stakeholders at all levels to promote the local use of green hydrogen, align initiatives with national objectives, and ensure a just transition to sustainable energy solutions The webinar, like the report, challenged the prevailing narrative that green hydrogen is primarily a product for export from renewable-rich and industry-poor countries; rather, it underscored green hydrogen’s potential as a catalyst for sustainable development within developing countries that can contribute to economic growth, environmental sustainability and social progress.

29 February 2024, 17:00 – 18:30 GST

“Water for Hydrogen Production”

As the world needs to accelerate its transition towards a sustainable energy future, clean hydrogen emerges as a critical component in decarbonizing “hard-to-abate” sectors, including steelmaking and the chemical industry. The drive towards clean hydrogen, however, brings to the forefront an sustainability aspects of its production, including the water footprint.

The groundbreaking report “Water for Hydrogen Production”, co-authored by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Bluerisk, delves into the crucial intersection of water use and hydrogen production. This analysis is especially pertinent for regions grappling with water stress, underscoring the importance of integrating water sustainability into energy planning.

The report offers an in-depth examination of water withdrawal and consumption intensities across the main hydrogen production pathways. Among these, green hydrogen – produced through the electrolysis – is highlighted as the most water-efficient pathway. This finding is based on extensive interviews with industry experts and thorough literature reviews.

The third IRENA Policy Talk 2024 presented the key findings of the report.

This webinar addressed the multifaceted challenges of scaling up clean hydrogen production in a water-efficient manner. It explored comprehensive policy measures, technological innovations, and best practices to minimize the water footprint of hydrogen production. Moreover, the webinar delved into regional considerations and the diverse local and regional impact of hydrogen production in current and future water stressed areas.

15 February 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GST

“Post-COP28: Translating pledges into action in the GCC”

With almost 200 global leaders agreeing upon the need to transition away from fossil fuels, and over 130 countries pledging to triple global renewable energy deployment and double energy efficiency by 2030 at COP28 hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), concrete pathways for implementing pledges are more needed than ever.

IRENA’s new analysis Renewable Energy Markets: GCC 2023 shows that GCC countries have made significant progress in renewables, with installed capacity growing from close to zero in 2013 to over 5 GW in 2022. However, the share of renewables in the region’s total installed generation capacity only accounts for 3%. The report shows that there are several opportunities for GCC countries to enable an energy transition. For example, the GCC region’s climate and geography offer the region a great chance to accelerate its renewable energy deployment. The conducive business environment in the region, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, can foster the deployment of cost-effective renewable energy sources, namely solar energy. As the recent auctions show, solar PV and CSP prices have become highly affordable, becoming an attractive option in the region.

Moreover, diversifying the historically fossil fuel-dependent economy can hedge volatile international oil prices. The energy transition in the region will also bring many opportunities for the workforce and enterprises. GCC countries can leverage existing resources such as large public funds and abundant solar energy to facilitate public investments in renewables as well as in innovative solutions like renewable-powered desalination and green hydrogen.

Against this background, IRENA’s second policy talk of 2024, “Post-COP28: Translating pledges into action in the GCC” started off with a scene-setting presentation (see the slides here) to present the key findings of the aforementioned Renewable Energy Markets: GCC 2023 report. Followed by a moderated panel session with distinguished renewable energy and climate policy experts, where the panels shared their insights on the current progress and opportunities for the energy transition in the region.

25 January 2024, 14:00 – 15:00 GST

“Tripling Renewables: Ambition, progress, and financing needs”

Renewable energy ambitions within NDCs are not only insufficient, but also fall short of what countries have committed to in domestic policies that exist outside the framework of the Paris Agreement (national laws, policies, roadmaps, plans, strategies). As per IRENA’s 1.5^°C pathway, and the COP28 pledge to triple renewable power globally, renewable power generation capacity in the G20 countries alone would need to grow from less than 3 terawatts (TW) in 2022 to 9.4 TW by 2030, accounting for 80% of the global total. The commitments made in NDCs account for less than half of that required to align with the tripling renewables pledge, and those made in national energy plans and policies fall short by 30%.

At the other end of the emissions spectrum LDCs and SIDS contribute less than 5% of global GHG emissions, yet they are disproportionately impacted by climate change and remain particularly vulnerable due to their economic structures, limited adaptive capacity and geographical locations. For both groups of countries, renewable energy offers opportunities for socioeconomic development, increased access to reliable and affordable clean energy, and energy security. They have set targets in their NDCs that indicate an intention to double their capacity compared to 2022 – to reach total installed renewable capacity of more than 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. More than half of the capacity that remains to be added is conditional on international support in the form of financing, technical assistance, technology transfer, capacity building and other forms of support.

The first session of IRENA's Policy Talks 2024 delved into the key insights of the report: NDCs and renewable energy targets in 2023: Tripling renewable power by 2030. It discussed renewable energy targets in countries’ NDCs, and their level of ambition in relation to IRENA’s 1.5^°C scenario and the goal of tripling renewables in the power sector by 2030. Special attention was given to financing needs in developing countries – particularly LDCs and SIDS – as communicated through their NDCs. In that context, the webinar revisited the findings of IRENA’s report Global landscape of renewable energy finance 2023, highlighting the gap between historical investments with respect to what is needed up to 2030. Finally, the webinar shed light on the misalignments between renewable energy targets in NDCs with those set in national plans and policies, and discussed ways to achieve further coherence between the two. Aligning renewable energy targets in NDCs and national energy plans would increase the effectiveness and credibility of both. It would also reinforce clear signals to investors, developers, and other players across the supply chain, thus enabling further development of the renewable energy sector.

A moderated panel discussion reflected on the findings of the reports, featuring key experts from governments, think tanks, international organisations. Additional following questions wer explored:

• In light of the COP28 pledge to triple renewable power globally, what are the most critical actions that G20 members need to take to increase their renewable power generation capacity from less than 3 terawatts in 2022 to 9.4 terawatts by 2030?
• What concrete steps can be taken to ensure that developing countries receive the necessary financing, technical assistance, and technology transfer, to meet their renewable energy ambitions, that could serve objectives beyond climate?
• How can countries align their NDCs with domestic energy and investments policies to send clearer signals to investors, project developers, and the international community at large?

A Q&A session followed.

28 June 2022, 14:00 – 15:30 GST

“Sustainable Bioenergy for the Energy Transition”

Bioenergy makes up the largest share of renewable energy use today, accounting for around 9% of the world’s total primary energy supply. More than half of bioenergy is consumed for cooking and heating buildings in the traditional and inefficient way. Modern uses of bioenergy include biomass and biogas/biomethane for industrial heat, power generation, and liquid biofuels road transport. However, they only contribute small shares of the final energy consumption of end uses: 7% of heating for buildings and industry and 3% of transport fuels.

Modern bioenergy has a major role to play in the energy transition. IRENA’s 1.5^°C scenario suggest that it will make up a quarter of the total primary energy supply or 17% of final energy demand by 2050. Bioenergy will need to be scaled up to provide heat for both industrial processes and buildings, as well as fuels for transport. It will also be needed as feedstock in the petrochemical industry to produce chemicals and plastics. Combined with carbon capture and storage technologies in the power sector and some industrial sectors, bioenergy can deliver the negative emissions needed to achieve the net-zero emission goal.

Various barriers impede the scale up of bioenergy, including the lack of policy certainty, low level of technology readiness (for example, biofuels for aviation or biomass for the chemical industry), high cost of bioenergy compared to fossil fuels, as well as weak supply chains. Comprehensive policy measures are needed to address these barriers and scale up the deployment. Energy policy needs to closely interact with other sectoral policies such as agriculture, forest and waste management.

If the supply chain is not managed properly, bioenergy can have sustainability risks linked to land use (including competition with food supply), air pollution, reduced water and soil quality, and biodiversity loss. Ensuring the sustainability of bioenergy deployment is the most fundamental element of bioenergy policymaking. Sustainability governance, regulations and certification schemes, cross-sectoral coordination and other measures can help minimise potential impacts on environmental, economic, and social aspects.

IRENA has published the “Bioenergy for the Energy Transition: Ensuring Sustainability and Overcoming Barriers” report. This study analyses the current status and barriers to the deployment of bioenergy in power generation, heating, transport, and industry. It highlights the necessity of prioritised use of bioenergy in specific applications given the finite feedstock and examines policies and best practices to address barriers. This study also examines possible sustainability risks related to bioenergy supply chains and proposes a policy framework to ensure sustainability.

The key findings of this report were presented by IRENA in the 4^th Policy Talks 2022.

The concept note with agenda is available here.

More information on the speakers can be found here.

The presentation can be found here.

23 June 2022, 16:00 – 17:30 GST

“RE-structuring the Power System for the Energy Transition”

The world must embark upon a fast and steady energy transition to avoid climate change with deeply disruptive socioeconomic impacts. As IRENA's World Energy Transitions Outlook outlines, the power sector will be at the heart of such transitions, with increased electrification of end uses and wind and solar PV becoming the main sources of electricity. 

In this context, ensuring that the structures guiding the procurement and cost allocation of electricity and flexibility are fit for the renewable energy era is essential. VRE characteristics call for reshaping current power system organizational structures, a legacy of an era when generation depended on large centralized and dispatchable power plants and demand played no active role. Such transformation is unlikely to happen merely with fixes to the prevalent power system structures, whether liberalized or regulated, and requires a holistic approach. Without it, misalignments are likely to hinder a successful transition.

In the last two years, some impacts of current power system organizational structures’ misalignments have caught considerable political and media attention. First, the COVID-19 lockdowns induced a sharp decrease in energy demand and consequently a higher VRE share in the power mix, thereby reproducing the power system conditions that can be expected as the transition progresses.  As a result, electricity prices decreased to such low levels that power markets were unable to support merchant renewable plants.  Second, during the natural gas supply crisis, marginal fossil fuels generators in liberalized contexts increased the price of electricity to unforeseen levels, with serious impacts on the ability of societies to recover from the recent Covid-19 pandemic, and triggering policy action potentially creating additional transition barriers.

The dual procurement system, proposed by IRENA in the report “RE-organising Power Systems for the Transition”, acknowledges the needs and characteristics of the two main pillars of a renewable-based power system, namely, variable distributed generation and flexibility. The report aims at shedding light and informing discussions about the role of power system organizational structures to facilitate and accelerate the energy transition.

The key findings of this report were presented by IRENA in the 3^rd Policy Talks 2022.

8 March 2022, 13:00 – 14:50 GST

“Enabling Green Hydrogen: Industrial Policy, Certification Systems, and Inclusiveness”

Green hydrogen has emerged as a viable solution for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and as a key enabler of the energy transition. With a growing number of countries around the world committing to net-zero, green hydrogen has become a key aspect of their national strategies to move away from fossil fuels. Over the last three years, many countries have announced and/or put in place measures to support green hydrogen in post-COVID-19 recovery packages, as well as devised national green hydrogen strategies. Green hydrogen has also been gaining momentum due to more competitive renewable energy prices, ongoing technological improvements, and for the need of greater power-system flexibility.

The use of green hydrogen in industry is not only hampered by cost and technical barriers, but also by a lack of a market for green products, lack of sufficient ambitious policies, and carbon leakage risks. Policy makers will have to address these barriers to make sure green hydrogen can give its full contribution in the industrial sector.

Furthermore, the establishment of national, regional and international green hydrogen markets will depend on the development and acceptance of tracking systems that will provide information on the origin of the production process and the greenhouse gas emissions produced. While tracking systems for green hydrogen present considerable benefits, their successful establishment will require addressing different challenges and barriers.

Finally, as the green hydrogen market develops, policymakers must devise and implement strategies that are inclusive and just to ensure a fair energy and industrial transition among all members of society. 

This session of the Policy Talks 2022 provided insights from IRENA on the most relevant issues related to green hydrogen. It gathered top experts in the field of green hydrogen policy making to discuss the current status and the potential options to make green hydrogen move from niche to mainstream.

It also served to present key findings of two new reports on green hydrogen from IRENA and the IRENA Coalition for Action:

• The IRENA report “Green hydrogen for industry: A guide to policy making” examines the challenges for the consumption of green hydrogen in hard to abate sectors, and the policies needed to support the switch of industry and the adoption of green hydrogen. The report present option to mandate or support a change in industrial practices. The report also presents a roadmap to adopt such policies in the right moment as the green hydrogen sector grows.
• The IRENA Coalition for Action brief on Green Hydrogen Certification, led by the members of the Decarbonising End-Use Sectors Working Group, provides an overview of technical consideration for green hydrogen tracking systems and the obstacles to be addressed for the creation of such instruments. In addition, the brief also puts forth key recommendations to policymakers in order to successfully establish tracking systems for green hydrogen based on internationally accepted standards.

28 January 2022

“IRENA Policy Talk 2022”

The energy transition entails numerous interlinkages and synergies between the energy sector itself and the broader socio-economic system of which it forms a crucial part. IRENA continues to capture an increasingly comprehensive picture of the socio-economic impacts of the energy transition. IRENA’s modelling work demonstrate that steps towards a decarbonised energy future will positively affect economic activity, jobs – outweighing losses in the fossil fuel industries- and welfare, provided a holistic policy framework is in place. However, global aggregates mask important differences in how the energy transition affects regions and countries and how benefits are distributed.

Therefore, these overall benefits notwithstanding, spatial, temporal, educational and sectoral aspects of the transition will need close scrutiny to guard against potential misalignments and to reach energy transition targets while addressing distributional challenges for just and inclusive outcomes. In particular, countries with weak domestic supply chains and those with heavy dependence on fossil fuel revenues need to undergo structural changes to take advantage of opportunities inherent in the energy transition.

An analysis of key drivers and dynamics at global, regional and country level provides indispensable insights for policymakers. Along with a high level of transition ambition, a comprehensive policy framework can maximise benefits and minimise disruptive effects. Steady deployment policies remain essential for the continued expansion of renewable energy capacities around the world, thus for the energy transition's success.

IRENA’s Policy Talks provide a forum for renewable energy policy discussions where experiences and best practices in policy design and implementation can be shared to support the efficient deployment of renewable energy, and the maximisation of the benefits realised. The Policy Talks generate feedback from IRENA Member States, policy makers and experts, which provides key input to support IRENA’s implementation of the Work Programme in the policy realm, to ensure relevance and accuracy. This event explored how governments can effectively design measures in the post-COVID era and how to ensure that these distinct policy fields form a coherent whole to bring about a just and inclusive transition for all.

27 May 2021, 13:00 – 14:30 CET

“Green Hydrogen Supply: Policies and Practical Insights”

The last two years have witnessed increased momentum for green hydrogen, with many countries around the world implementing national hydrogen strategies or announcing their intentions to do so. Measures to support green hydrogen have even been included in post-COVID-19 recovery packages. Investors and the private sector are also making strategic investments in green hydrogen and forming cross-sector partnerships to drive down costs and create greater economies of scale for green hydrogen technologies.

This second session of the Policy Talks 2021 presented key findings of two new hydrogen reports on the 27th of May 2021.

The IRENA report “Green hydrogen supply: A guide to policy making” examines the challenges for the production and transportation of green hydrogen, and the policies needed to support them. Targets, tariffs, auctions, tax exemptions, and other measures can ensure a sufficient supply of renewable electricity, boost demand for green hydrogen and its derivatives, and create the needed infrastructure to store and transport hydrogen. The report also presents a roadmap to adopt such policies in the right moment as the green hydrogen sector grows.  

The IRENA Coalition for Action white paper “Practical insights on green hydrogen” draws from on the ground experiences and showcases green hydrogen projects across different end-uses, provides insights from a renewable energy industry perspective on growth opportunities, and offers recommendations to policy makers to accelerate its adoption worldwide. 

This session gathered public and private stakeholders to discuss key opportunities and challenges in scaling up green hydrogen, focused on the role of supply-side policies. The webinar also highlighted successful examples of companies that are developing projects to build technical capacity and showcase the potential to scale up green hydrogen uptake in energy-intensive, hard-to-abate sectors.

Learn more about the speakers.

The detailed concept note is available here.

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

27 April 2021, 13:00 – 13:50 GST

“Renewable Energy Policies for the Energy Transitions: Focus on Heating and Cooling”

The Policy Talks generate feedback from IRENA Member States, policy makers, and experts which provides key input to support IRENA’s implementation of the Work Programme in the policy realm, to ensure relevance and accuracy.

The key policies and measures needed for the energy transitions, focusing on the energy needed for heating and cooling, were discussed in this webinar. Presentations were delivered by IRENA staff to introduce the global policy landscape, policies to support the various transformative pathways for the energy transition for heating and cooling, and the measures to develop the key enabling infrastructure needed.

Learn more about the speakers.

The detailed concept note is available here.

Presentation slides can be accessed here.

30 November 2020, 17:30 – 19:00 GST

“Stimulating Investment in Community Energy” – in partnership with the IRENA Coalition for Action

The fourth and last Policy Talks 2020 focused on citizen-led renewable energy projects – commonly referred to as “community energy”, and the findings of the IRENA Coalition for Action white paper, “Stimulating Investment in Community Energy: Broadening the ownership of renewables”. Renewable energy investments by citizens and communities have gained traction in a number of countries. This Policy Talks discussed key opportunities and challenges in stimulating investment in community energy, focusing on how policies can be designed to value citizen participation, current experiences in the implementation of financing instruments to support community energy, and examples of initiatives that have successfully mobilised financing for community energy projects.

Additional materials:

• Events slides
• Speaker Biography
• Concept note and Agenda

30 November 2020, 9:00 – 10:30 CET

“Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition: Heating and Cooling”

Presenting the findings of the joint report on “Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition: Heating and Cooling” report by IRENA, IEA and REN21, this Policy Talk focused on policies needed to decarbonise heating and cooling in all end-uses. The discussion included highlights from the study, which provides a comprehensive policy framework to overcome the key barriers that have impeded the uptake of renewables in heating and cooling. Interventions from policy makers were made to share experiences and best practices in the implementation of policies, while highlighting lessons learnt.

Additional materials:

• Events slides
• Speaker Biography
• Concept note and Agenda

19 November 2020, 14:00 – 15:30 CET

“Policies for Green Hydrogen”

The second IRENA Policy Talk focused on green hydrogen and the policies needed to transition this energy carrier from niche to mainstream. Following the presentation of the findings of the “Green hydrogen: A guide to policy making” report, a panel discussion was held with experts to discuss the latest trends and actions needed to scale up green hydrogen across its value chain. Interventions from policy makers were also made to share experiences and best practices in the implementation of policies that are planned to kick-start the growing green hydrogen sector.

Additional materials:

• Events slides
• Speaker Biography
• Concept note and Agenda

10 November 2020, 15:00 – 16:30 CET

“Renewable Energy Finance: Status, Trends and Recommendations”

The first IRENA Policy Talk focused on renewable energy finance trends and actions needed to attract investments at scale to advance the global energy transition and achieve climate and development goals. Following the presentation of the findings of the “Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2020” report, a panel discussion was held with experts to discuss the latest trends and actions needed to scale up renewable energy investments. Interventions from policy makers were made to share experiences and best practices in the implementation of financing instruments that have been used to attract private investments in the renewable energy sector.

Additional materials:

• Events slides
• Speaker Biography
• Concept note and Agenda