18 July 2018: On Wednesday, 18 July 2018, on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), a side event convened to focus on the role of decentralized renewable energy systems in achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), including through: public and private financing; multi-stakeholder coalitions; and inclusive policies and strategies, including gender mainstreaming.

The event titled, ‘Energy Sector Transformation: Decentralized Renewable Energy for Universal Energy Access,’ was organized by the development aid organization Hivos and the Brooklyn Coalition, together with the Government of Germany. The Brooklyn Coalition is comprised of: the Governments of the Netherlands, Kenya and Nepal; private sector companies SELCO and Schneider Electric; and civil society organizations (CSOs) Hivos, ENERGIA and SNV.

Edwin Huizing, Executive Director, Hivos, stressed the need for predictability regarding renewables so that governments can make long-term policy decisions, and for focusing on small-scale projects to ensure tailor-made solutions.

US$33 billion dollars in investment, including US$1 billion in grants, is needed to ensure universal energy access by 2030.

Speakers emphasized that transformation of the energy sector should take advantage of new technologies and declining renewable energy costs, and that scaling up existing off-grid solutions and linking them to energy service delivery will generate substantial socioeconomic benefits, contributing to multiple SDGs. They highlighted, inter alia:

• Nepal’s work on distributed generation, which encourages all municipalities to establish renewable energy systems using cost-sharing with the national government;
• a rural energy development programme in Nepal using hydropower to develop social capital;
• efforts by the Netherlands to ensure that 16% of energy used is sustainable by 2023;
• private-public partnerships (PPPs) that recognize the public sector’s enabling role in energy delivery; and
• the need for US$33 billion dollars in investment, including US$1 billion in grants, to deliver on universal energy access by 2030.

Participants also outlined challenges related to decentralized renewable energy solutions, including: ensuring that decentralized off-grid systems in local communities include cooking equipment; scaling up existing solutions; and creating an enabling environment, including policies and finance that target households without access to energy.

During the discussion, participants addressed, inter alia, impacts of decentralization on the financial viability of the grid in small island developing States (SIDS) and utility pricing disincentives for renewables. [IISD RS Coverage of Side Event on Decentralized Renewable Energy] [Hivos Green and Inclusive Energy Programme]