What will be covered?
- To provide an overview of the different advantages that a clear renewable energy policy can provide, and its possible interaction with other policies;
- To explain what the key building blocks are when designing a regulatory/ support mechanism;
- To show how these have been implemented in different African countries.
- Discussion regarding common technical and non-technical barriers and issues limiting wide spread use/dissemination of renewable energy.
Why support renewable energy? There aremany answers to this question. Renewable energy can aid security of supply. Small-scale renewable energy projects can contribute to a government’s social agenda, for example by increasing access to electricity. On a broader social and political level, the development of a renewable energy industry can create jobs and enhance technical expertise. Renewables can also deliver additional local, regional and global environmental benefits.
This module examines types of regulatory/support mechanisms for renewable energy and the design issues that are involved in these mechanisms. The module will also give examples of the mechanisms in practice and provide information on the pros and cons of each system. Most mechanisms of this type have only been functioning for a short while with very limited application in Africa. Consequently, conclusions on their success or failure are hard to draw. Sometimes the best solution is to use a combination of mechanisms to support renewable energy development in a country.