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Key Takeaways from SPIREC 2023

From February 20 to 23, 2023, DDI (as represented by Program Officer, Off-Grid Energy – David Arinze – participated in the Spain International Renewable Energy Conference (SPIREC) 2023. SPIREC 2023 was an international conference on renewable energies held in Madrid, Spain. The conference provided an opportunity to take stock of the current state of the energy transition and the deployment of renewable energies after a year of significant “upheaval caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” The conference aimed to establish a fruitful dialogue on the challenges faced in the current context of the energy crisis and the challenges that need to be addressed in the medium term to achieve climate goals.

 

With topics like Rethinking our Energy Supply: Renewables, energy security and geopolitics; Renewables for Industry; Local Value Creation: Building inclusive economies; Can renewables solve energy poverty?; Beyond Technology: Using Social and Policy Innovation to Accelerate the Shift to Renewables; Beyond Market Reform: Strengthening Supply Chains to Scale Up the Renewables Sector; Renewables for Agriculture; Changing Energy Governance: Communities and cities shifting to renewables; Disrupting the Fossil Fuel Reality: Using innovation to shift to renewables, and a host of others, some of the key takeaways are as follows:

  • ·      Renewable energy can benefit everyone by providing access to energy, creating jobs, building a fairer society, and ensuring a healthy environment.
  • ·     The decentralized nature of renewable energy enables diverse players, including citizens, cities, and regions, to engage actively in the energy game and produce their own energy.
  • ·    Citizen engagement is central to integrating renewable energy across economies and society, and it helps ensure that citizens benefit concretely from renewable energy projects.
  • ·   Renewables can bring back dignity and quality of life to rural and indigenous communities and motivate younger generations to stay.
  • ·       Renewable energy deployment must be massively scaled up and the shift to renewables needs to be accelerated before 2030.
  • ·  Social innovation and policy innovation must be paired with technological innovation to ensure the deep structural transformation needed.
  • ·       Continued innovation in renewables is needed and can be fostered through policy support, development of incubators and accelerators, etc.
  • ·    Environmental and social governance can help the energy sector and investors understand the positive and negative impacts associated with renewable energy investments and accelerate their deployment.
  • ·   Digitalization is improving the safety, productivity, accessibility, and sustainability of energy systems, and can contribute to accelerating the uptake of renewables.
  • ·       Circularity in renewable energy materials is key to minimizing resource use and embedded carbon while growing the sector.

SPIREC 2023 was a key milestone for sharing experiences and best practices in the decarbonization agenda, providing a game-changing opportunity for the renewable energy sector and society as a whole to build a more secure, resilient, and sustainable energy system. It brought together experts and stakeholders in the renewable energy sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the energy transition and emphasized the importance of scaling up renewable energy deployment, accelerating the shift to renewables, and ensuring a just and equitable transition for all.

Since 2014, DDI has continued to support the provision of off-grid/renewable and sustainable power to underserved and unserved communities in Nigeria by working closely with local energy entrepreneurs to deploy renewable energy solutions across the country. At SPIREC, DDI gained more insights as regards the potential of citizen engagement, social and policy innovation, digitalization, and circularity to accelerate the uptake of renewables and drive deep structural transformation in the energy sector. The key takeaways from SPIREC 2023 provide valuable insights for policymakers, investors, and industry players on how to build a more secure, resilient, and sustainable energy system for the future.

#renewableenergy #sustainability #Nigeria #energytransformation #SPIREC2023 #citizenengagement #policyinnovation #digitalization #circularity
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(𝘓-𝘙) 𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘖𝘫𝘰𝘮𝘰 (𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦), 𝘈𝘴𝘮𝘢 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘪𝘢 (𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘈 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘜𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯), 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘴 𝘡𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘴 (𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘌𝘕21), 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘈𝘥𝘪𝘣 (𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘌𝘕21), 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘻𝘦 (𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘖𝘧𝘧-𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴), 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴 (𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘐𝘋𝘈𝘌), 𝘉𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘑𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘶 (𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦) & 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘨𝘸𝘦𝘺𝘶 (𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘘𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘪) 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘗𝘐𝘙𝘌𝘊, 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘥, 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯