Energy Access and Renewable Energy Policy Innovations and Good Practices: Recent Case Study Assessments by the Clean Energy Solution Center

Energy Access and Renewable Energy Policy Innovations and Good Practices
Side Event at Vienna Energy Forum on June 20, 2015, 12:00 – 13:00, Rittersaal
Senior officials from ECOWAS, CARICOM, the International Copper Association, E3 Analytics, and the Clean Energy Solutions Center will present on innovations and good practices with energy access and renewable energy policies.  They will highlight case examples of leading policies from West Africa and the Caribbean and from the Clean Energy Regulators Initiative.  The event will also feature findings from a recent Solutions Center report on the Next Generation of Renewable Energy Policies and a forthcoming report on policies for enabling private sector delivery of energy access.
Presenters

Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director, ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Devon Gardner, Energy Program Manager, CARICOM Secretariat

Toby Couture, Director, E3 Analytics

Ajit Advani, Sustainable Energy Advisor, International Copper Association

Ron Benioff, Director, Clean Energy Solutions Center
Agenda
12:00 – 12:10      Overview of Clean Energy Solutions Center and Policies for Private Sector Energy Access Delivery           Ron Benioff, Clean Energy Solutions Center
12:10 – 12:50      Regional and Global Perspectives on Energy Access and Renewable Energy Policies

West African Energy Access and Renewable Energy Policies, Mahama Kappiah, ECOWAS

Caribbean Renewable Energy Strategy and Measures, Devon Gardner, CARICOM

Next Generation of Renewable Energy Policies, Toby Couture, E3 Analytics

Innovative Renewable Energy Regulations, Ajit Advani, ICA
12:50 – 1:10       Audience Discussion and Questions               
1:10- 1:15             Closing Remarks
  

Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director, ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Mahama Kappiah is the Executive Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). He was eminent in the establishment of the Centre which aims to ensure increased access to reliable, affordable and clean energy in the West African region. Under his leadership, ECREEE has attained international recognition as a unique regional renewable energy and energy efficiency promotion agency in sub-Saharan Africa, with other regional economic Communities such as the EAC and SADC seeking to emulate.
Prior to the establishment of ECREEE in 2010, Mahama Kappiah was Head of the ECOWAS Energy Division. Some of his achievements include the creation of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulation Authority (ERERA). Before joining the ECOWAS Commission, he worked in the Planning and Development Department of the Volta River Authority (VRA) of Ghana, where he served in various capacities.
Mahama Kappiah is a member of the REN21 Board. He holds a Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering from the Kharkov Polytechnic Institute, Karkov, Ukraine. He has over 20 years of experience working on issues related to energy, environment, climate change and sustainable development in West Africa and beyond.

Devon Gardner, Energy Program Manager, CARICOM Secretariat
DEVON GARDNER is the Programme Manager for Energy and Head of the Energy Unit at the CARICOM Secretariat. He brings to this role, extensive experience in resource assessment; physical modeling; engineering design; policy development; and capacity building strategies for low carbon projects and has an extensive projects portfolio, derived through work with many governments, organizations and institutions throughout the Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States.
In this role, Devon has oversight of the CARICOM Energy Programme (CEP), which is tasked with increasing regional energy security and advancing the transformation of the Region’s energy sector towards a more sustainable energy path (through the implementation of a regional energy policy and a regional sustainable energy strategy). The Five Year CARICOM Strategic Plan [2015‑2019], approved by the CARICOM Heads of Government in June 2014, identifies a critical catalytic role for energy in promoting regional economic integration, sustainable economic growth and development. Devon is renowned for his connection approach to problem solving and, his knowledge of island energy systems and the regional energy sector aside, is a trained climate change specialist who integrates climate mitigation and adaptation strategies into sustainable energy – renewable energy and energy efficiency – deployment.
Previous to his appointment at the Secretariat, Dr. Gardner was a Technical Adviser to the GEF‑UNEP Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD) Project and the SIDS DOCK Island Energy Initiative, which are both within the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC). He also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Sustainable Energy Management Programme at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago; Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the College of The Bahamas and Northern Caribbean University (Jamaica); Visiting Professor and Senior Research Fellow in Chemical Physics at the University of Iceland and the University of Leiden in The Netherlands respectively; and Assistant Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus). He has published over fifty (50) peer‑reviewed articles and studies and received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with specialization in numerical analysis from the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus) in 2001. 

Toby Couture, Director, E3 Analytics
Toby Couture is Founder and Director of E3 Analytics, an independent renewable energy consultancy based in Berlin, Germany. He works on a wide range of topics in the renewable energy sector, including policy, strategy, economics, and finance. He has worked extensively around the world and has advised government regulators and policymakers in over forty countries, including in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands region, Africa, the Middle East, as well as in a number of jurisdictions within Canada, and the United States.
Prior to founding E3 Analytics in 2009, he worked in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Colorado. While at NREL, he published a number of innovative reports on renewable energy policy and advised regulators and lawmakers across the United States.
Mr. Couture speaks English, French, German and Spanish as well as basic Greek, and Swahili. He is a previous recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, has studied renewable energy finance in France, has a Master’s degree in Environmental Policy from the University of Moncton in Canada, as well as an MSc. in Financial and Commercial Regulation from the London School of Economics in the UK. He currently lives in Berlin.

Ajit Advani, Sustainable Energy Advisor, International Copper Association
Ajit Advani is an advisor to the Sustainable Energy Initiative of the Copper Alliance, a global network of not for profit organizations that promote the beneficial uses of copper. Being the best conductor of heat and electricity among commercial metals, copper is integral to achieving the goals of energy sustainability – energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy access. The Copper Alliance supports these goals by catalysing the development of progressive energy policies, standards & regulations by countries; through the development and adoption of clean energy technologies ; and by promoting sustainable energy practices to users.
During his decade long service with the Copper Alliance, Ajit Advani has earlier held the positions of Global Director – Sustainable Energy, Deputy Regional Director – Asia and CEO – India. Prior to joining the copper industry, he was with a Fortune 50 company in the electrical engineering industry in India and Germany in diverse functional areas. He is an Electrical Engineer.

Ron Benioff, Director, Clean Energy Solutions Center
Ron Benioff is Director of Multilateral Programs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In this capacity, he serves as Director of the Clean Energy Solutions Center, a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative providing clean energy policy resources, expert advice, and training to countries around the world.  He also manages NREL’s work as operating agent for the 21st Century Power Partnership, which advances clean energy grid integration and power sector transformation.  In addition, he directs the LEDS Global Partnership where he coordinates activities of the partnership across the regional platforms, topical working groups, and more than 160 member institutions.  Ron also manages NREL’s work to deliver energy services for the UNFCCC Climate Technology Center and Network.  He recently served as Director of the Green Growth Best Practices Initiative, where he led the engagement of over 75 authors around the world in evaluation of effective practices with green growth analysis, planning, and implementation.  Prior to joining NREL in 1997, he worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 11 years on climate change and waste management issues. 

Date

Jun 20 2015
Expired!

Time

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Location

Rittersaal