Clean Energy Ministerial

Overview

The Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group aims to promote the accelerated deployment of solar and wind technologies. Its initial focus is on developing a global atlas for solar and wind energy and a corresponding long-term strategy on joint capacity building. Through these activities, the Working Group will seek to further allay the incremental costs of providing wind and solar energy to all regions of the world, thereby creating jobs, reducing emissions, and promoting energy security.

For more information, view the Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group fact sheet .

Current Activity

The main activities and outputs to be provided and elaborated in the group's future collaboration were identified during a workshop held in Bonn in June 2010. In a second workshop in Madrid in November 2010, activities on the global solar and wind atlas and on capacity building were further discussed. Two expert workshops in Madrid (January 2011) and Stuttgart (March 2011) further specified concrete pilot project proposals within the two fields.

After a third Working Group meeting in Copenhagen in May 2011, the implementation phase began for pilot projects within both areas of activity. Work packages were established to create the global atlas for solar and wind energy, and a steering committee overseeing the implementing organizations and partners was formed. The first prototype of the Global Atlas will be presented at the third Clean Energy Ministerial in London. More information on the Global Solar and Wind Atlas can be found in this brochure.

Signing ceremony for the Global Solar and Wind Atlas at the third Clean Energy Minister in London.

Moreover, the Working Group initiated several pilot projects in the area of capacity building. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership will jointly implement the IRENA Renewable Energy Learning Partnership (IRELP), an online education and training platform for the wind and solar energy sectors. IRELP will be officially launched in London during the third Clean Energy Ministerial in April 2012.

The Working Group moreover developed a handbook and toolbox for Capacity Development Needs Diagnostics for Renewable Energy (CaDRE). This effort, implemented by GIZ, IRENA, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) will also be launched during the third Clean Energy Ministerial in London.

During a workshop that took place in November 2011 in Berlin, the Working Group participants presented the progress of the pilot projects and prepared for the third Clean Energy Ministerial. In addition, the Working Group agreed on a new area of activity: namely, economic value created by the solar and wind industries. The next meeting of the Working Group will take place in Madrid in spring 2012. In addition to reviewing the progress of the pilot projects, new areas of activity will be discussed and elaborated.