To facilitate cleaner energy, governments should use their convening power to align interests and gain support from all stakeholders across renewable energy and energy efficiency (RE/EE) value chains.

Speaking at conferences in Manila, Philippines, and Washington, D.C., DAI’s Patrick Doyle noted that these stakeholders include project financiers, utilities, equipment manufacturers, installers, and consumers. 

“Understanding the intricate details of how we produce and consume energy is essential to removing barriers to the many projects that will save money and reduce global warming,” said Doyle, DAI’s technical area manager for Energy and Climate Change. “There isn’t a one-size fits all approach, or an established, single best practice. In many cases multiple types of financial incentives are appropriate.”

On May 14 in Washington, D.C., Doyle spoke on government policies and financial incentives at the Roundtable on Energy Efficiency in Southeast Europe and the Caucasus, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Aspen Institute.

Doyle’s shared lessons from DAI’s energy project in Bulgaria, where DAI works with banks and consumers to develop financeable RE/EE projects on behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Union.

Financing alone is not sufficient to spur clean energy development, Doyle noted, because many international funds for RE/EE go unused for lack of demand from banks and customers. Marketing these funds, training banks, and providing free audits and consulting services is now a widely accepted best practice, he said.

“Key questions when evaluating an energy efficiency opportunity’s likelihood of success are, ‘Who is financing the projects, and who is taking the risk of nonperformance or cost overruns?’” Doyle said. “We all know energy efficiency projects can be profitable, or have positive returns on investment as compared to other options. But are they profitable enough for the real or perceived risks involved?

“Government programs should aim to reduce the risks and increase the profitability of energy efficiency projects.”

Speakers from the U.S. Department of Energy included Jonathan Elkind, principal deputy assistant secretary, and Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Lynn Tabernacki of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Ira Birnbaum of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and numerous embassy representatives also participated.

In April, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) clean energy trade and investment conference in Manila, hosted by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, Doyle recommended policies to increase wind project development and manufacturing in ASEAN countries. He featured a case study on India and Suzlon Energy, one of the largest turbine manufacturers in the world.

Doyle highlighted the Philippines’ early leadership in wind energy development and its aggressive 2009 Renewable Energy Law, but also noted the challenges in implementing the numerous overlapping policies included in the law.

“Countries need to choose renewable energy policies carefully and ask key questions,” Doyle said. “Are the policies sufficient to meet the goals? Are there too many overlapping policies? The policies have to be the right ones for a country’s power sector and resource mix.”