News

As the World Bank substantially expands its renewable energy portfolio, ESMAP, in collaboration with the Advisory Services of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has launched a comprehensive renewable energy training program for World Bank Group staff. Participants are presented with a comprehensive overview and the most recent developments on the main RE technologies (including wind, solar, and geothermal).

The training is expected to translate into more relevant and higher quality advice to client countries, and contribute to better informed government policies, and better structured public and private investment operations.

The training is broken up into several technology-specific modules. The first module, on recent developments in wind power, was held on March 13-15, 2012.  Participants learned about the wind power market, including economics, trends, regulatory frameworks and barriers to entry; how to conduct a wind resource assessment, and project planning and implementation, including procurement, siting and permitting, and power purchase agreements.

A second training module, on solar photovoltaic (PV) power, took place on April 10-11. Over fifty attendees learned about the fundamentals of PV power, including recent technology developments, market analysis and an overview of the economics of PV. Subsequent sessions covered project development and financing, and specific case studies covering off-grid and on-grid applications, in both developing and developed countries. ESMAP worked with the Renewable Energy Academy to present the module, which included presenters from the World Bank’s Africa regional unit, the IFC and the Sustainable Energy Department.

Future modules in 2012 will cover Biofuels, geothermal, renewable energy financing, and grid integration. The training sessions will be open to interested energy sector stakeholders from client countries upon request. For more information, go here.