WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new World Bank program is assisting developing countries in mapping their renewable energy potential to provide accurate and reliable data on potential locations for renewable energy sources. Coordinated and financed by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), The Renewable Energy Mapping Program funds participant countries for resource mapping for biomass, small hydro, solar and wind. With this information, countries are able to assess more accurately the potential of expanding their renewable power generation.
In many developing countries, the potential for renewable resources – solar, wind, hydropower and biomass – exists on a mass scale, has not been fully utilized. These countries need reliable and credible resource data. In addition to high-level solar and wind maps, governments need granular data, which gives a more comprehensive picture of suitable sites for development. By providing granular data, governments are able to understand the country’s full resource potential, and assess the most suitable locations for serving the population. In addition, the project will fund high-resolution mapping, ground-based data collection, geospatial analysis, and strategic environmental assessments.
Eight countries – Pakistan, Indonesia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia – will participate in the initial stages of the program. $11.6 million will be invested over the course of four years, and the program is expected to expand, with anticipated increases in client demand.
For these developing countries, increasing the use of renewable energy sources is vitally important because it will help countries to improve their energy security and access, strengthen their national fiscal outlook, and transition to a more sustainable energy sector. “We expect this initiative to be highly catalytic,” said Oliver Knight, Senior Energy Specialist at ESMAP. He remarked, “Resource mapping is a crucial step in providing the resource and policy certainty that commercial developers need to scale up investment in renewables.”
– Chloe Isacke
Source: World Bank, ESMAP
Photo: ESMAP