Renewable energy

Vladimir Delagneau Barquero, Tecnosol – solar entrepreneur

Energy Entrepreneurs /

[:en] Vladimir Delagneau Barquero, President and Managing Director, Tecnosol Location: Managua, Nicaragua “20 years ago, some Nicaraguans thought renewable energy was the work of the devil” When Vladimir Delagneau Barquero explains why he launched Tecnosol he brings the story back to an experience he had over a decade in the mid-eighties, during his military service …

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Abdul-W. Raaj, Suka Energy West Africa – renewable energy entrepreneur

Energy Entrepreneurs /

[:en] Abdul-W. Raaj, CEO, Suka Energy West Africa Location: Tamale, Ghana “People often ask me why we do everything – in, Africa there is no niche in solar energy” In Ghana in the eighties, around 40 schoolchildren in one class would burn kerosene lanterns, to be able to keep on studying after dark. Lanterns, some …

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Yonas Workie, Suntransfer Tech PLC – solar home system entrepreneur

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Yonas Workie, Managing Director, Suntransfer Tech PLC Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia “You have to really find quality products in a market which can be unfair” Doing business in Ethiopia, which has a population of 100 million, has its challenges. 80% live in rural areas, and hydropower is the most popular energy source. Yonas Workie has …

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Leena Chandran-Wadia: Are mini-grids the answer to rural electrification?

Blog /

[:en] Interview with Leena Chandran-Wadia Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation Location: Bangalore, India “The day we can say that every home is electrified is very far away” ‘Kerala is totally electrified!’ run the headlines in the  Indian papers. It’s a claim many Indian villages make, says Dr. Leena Chandran-Wadia, the Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation …

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Profile: Dodji Agbezo, Project Production Solaire – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Brief biography Dodji AGBEZO is the head of Projet Production Solaire Togo Company. He has two masters Degree. The first master in 2007 in Energy option at University of Lomé. Since training as renewable energy and energy efficiency engineer from International Institute of engineering of water and the environment (2IE), in Burkina Faso (www.2ie-edu.org) in …

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WR34: Insights for energy access in West Africa

Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided …

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BR26: Energy access in West Africa – Policy Recommendations

Policy Briefs /

A high percentage of the West African population lives in remote rural areas without access to modern energy services. Clean energy mini-grids (CEMGs) have been identified as essential to helping achieve universal electricity access in the region and they feature as important parts of national targets and renewable energy action plans for all ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. It is estimated that mini-grids …

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WR33: The Energy-Health-Education nexus and other insights for Smart Villages in Asia

Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative concluded its regional engagement in South and Southeast Asia with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017. The workshop was jointly organised with the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) of Thailand. From 7 to 9 March 2017, the workshop brought together 43 key stakeholders representing …

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BR25: Concluding workshop for Smart Villages engagement programmes in South and Southeast Asia – Policy Recommendations

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative concluded its regional engagement in South and Southeast Asia with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017. The workshop was jointly organised with the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) of Thailand. From 7 to 9 March 2017, the workshop brought together 43 key stakeholders representing …

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WR32: Energy planning from the bottom up: community-led approaches West Africa

Workshop Reports /

As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past few years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop on rural energy …

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Renewable energy in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands

Video /

Dario Rodriguez, an engineer with Ecuador’s National Institute of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, explains some of the unique social and environmental challenges that Ecuador faces in its efforts to promote renewable energy, including the delicate environment of the Galapagos Islands and the remoteness and isolation of the Amazon.

WR31: Sustainable energy resources for risk management and resilience of communities in Latin America and the Caribbean

Workshop Reports /

Leading experts from across Latin America and the Caribbean were brought together for a work-shop in Quito, Ecuador, on 30 January 2017 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of building resilience to natural disasters of villages in the region, with a particular concern for the contribution of energy services. Key points made in the presentations …

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BR23: Building rural resilience to natural disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean through smart villages

Policy Briefs /

The resilience of rural communities to natural disasters and other shocks is an important issue for rural villages; hard-won development gains can all too readily be lost through natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. This is particular so for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which are at risk from a …

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BR21: Sustainable energy for rural development and climate-resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative together with the National Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic held a workshop on 16-18 November 2016 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to discuss the challenges to, and opportunities for, the provision of clean energy services to rural communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. The workshop explored the …

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WR28: Sustainable energy for rural development & climate resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico

Workshop Reports /

Although the energy situation in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico is not uniform across all the countries in the region, many of them face some common issues and challenges. With some exceptions, nearly all countries in Central America and the Caribbean are net oil and fossil fuel importers, putting them in an uncertain position …

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Off-grid innovation already impacting rural development and climatic resilience across Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico; Pay as you go could accelerate uptake

Press Releases, Top Story /

PUNTA CANA: At an international workshop organised by the Smart Villages Initiative and the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic there was unanimous agreement on the potential of renewable energy in its various forms—solar, wind, biomass and mini-hydro—to play a major role in both rural development and enhancing the climatic resilience of off-grid communities …

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Smart Villages Podcast 4 – Renewable energy & going “beyond coal”: A conversation with Daniel Kammen (21.5 minutes)

Podcast /

This is the second podcast (21.5 minutes) in our two-part series of interviews with Professor Daniel Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Goldman School of Public Policy and Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. (Listen to Part 1) Sir Brian Heap, Senior Advisor to …

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Unlocking climate finance for decentralised energy access

External content, Resources /

Achieving energy access for everyone requires more and better targeted investment, but what role does climate finance play in filling the funding gaps? This paper examines data on the major climate funds to assess what share of international public finance goes toward energy access and compares this to overall finance needs for the sector. It …

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Renewables 2016 Global Status Report

External content, Resources /

2015 was an extraordinary year for renewable energy. Renewables are now cost competitive with fossil fuels in many markets and are established around the world as mainstream sources of energy. Cities, communities and companies are leading the rapidly expanding “100% renewable” movement, playing a vital role in advancing the global energy transition. Distributed renewable energy …

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