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Georgia is exploring ways to develop renewable energy

Georgia is exploring ways to develop renewable energy

What are the policy changes needed to overcome the political, legal, regulatory, institutional and technical barriers to the development of renewables in Georgia? What needs to change for the private sector to invest in renewable energy? How to stimulate investments to take advantage of Georgia’s significant and largely untapped renewable energy potential? These were some of the key questions discussed at the Renewable Energy Hard Talk on “New Possibilities for Developing Renewable Energy in Georgia” in Tbilisi on 13 December.

 

The event, organised by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), was supported by the Ministry of Energy demonstrating the significance of achieving a sustainable energy future for the Georgian Government. 

 

During the debates, which gathered over 50 representatives from policy and decision-makers, energy companies, NGOs, academia and the private sector, recommendations were made for jumpstarting investments in renewable energy, improving a projects’ bankability and simplifying procedures in project development.

 

The preliminary findings of the REN21 UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2017 were presented to highlight progress made, latest trends and emerging issues to be tackled. The REN21 UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report, published in 2015, formed a useful background document for the event. “This event is very timely because governments of South East and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Russian Federation have advanced well in developing targets and policies to promote the diverse renewable energy sources that are abundant across the region. Viewed from a global perspective, however, these developments remain marginal and greater project deployment and investment flows are needed to catch up with global renewable energy market development” said Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21.

 

“The UNECE report shows that attracting investment remains an issue for renewable energy development in the UNECE region. Renewable energy resources are gradually becoming cost-competitive with conventional resources. They are a way to reduce the net carbon intensity of energy, improve energy security, and encourage economic development.  Integrating renewables into the energy mix efficiently will be important for the energy system of the future. Wider uptake of renewables requires addressing barriers without resorting to long-term subsidies, implementing stable long-term policy that enables a sustainable energy system, and deploying innovative and targeted financial mechanisms. Policies must be designed in light of the economic circumstances and development challenges of countries with renewable energy potential” said Scott Foster, Director of UNECE’s Sustainable Energy Division.

 

As a result of this Hard Talk, renewed commitments were taken by the relevant national authorities to ensure a clear roadmap and policy framework for deploying renewables on a larger scale and for a wider range of renewable technologies (e.g. wind, solar, biomass).

 

The documentation from the Hard Talk is available at: https://ren21.rotcloud.com/index.php/s/U33VwqsdS7Nu5s2


For more information, please contact:
REN21 – Mr. Martin Hullin - email: [email protected]
UNECE – Mr. Gianluca Sambucini – email: [email protected]

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Information Unit

Tel.: +41 (0) 22 917 12 34

Email: [email protected]

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.