For the entire week, we were based at the Global Renewables Hub, a dedicated space for forward-thinking events, bilateral meetings, and impactful dialogue, co-hosted by the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and many GRA global members.
During our first day, our CEO Walburga Hemetsberger's participated in a panel discussion on forging successful partnerships with communities in the clean energy transition, organised by Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) and the Clean Energy Council.
Following this, Walburga joined a panel session on untapping the renewable energy potential of the Mediterranean, organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER), and the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy. Alongside dozens of global and regional stakeholders, we're supporting the Mediterranean Dialogue on Sustainable Energy and Climate’s (MEDSEC) TeraMED campaign, calling for 1 TW of renewable energy capacity in the Mediterranean region by 2030.
During our second day at COP29, Walburga participated in a panel discussion organised by the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), on ‘Shifting gears: navigating the roadblocks to accelerated renewable energy development in the Eastern Partnership countries.’ She highlighted how solar is the most adaptable and scalable energy technology to deliver the energy transition, especially in countries like Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Azerbaijan, amongst others.
Closing off the day, Walburga attended a high-level dinner titled ‘European industry in the global clean tech race,’ organised by the European Commission. The dinner was moderated by Ditte Juul Jørgensen, European Commission Director-General for Energy; Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy, and Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, provided opening remarks.
Kicking off day 3, Walburga joined a panel discussion organised by DG NEAR, ‘ Climate Finance for Ukraine’s Economic Competitiveness and Reconstruction.’ Afterwards, our Director of Global Affairs Máté Heisz, engaged in a roundtable, 'Solar PV: the boom in short- and medium-term market opportunities!' organised by Green Energy Park. Recently, with the Global Solar Council (GSC), we calculated that global solar capacity has reached 2 TW globally, powering the equivalent of 600 million homes.
Afterwards, our CEO took part in an event organised by the Spanish government, 'The citizen at the centre of the energy system.' She highlighted how to future proof our energy system, we must add a lot of flexibility and empower citizens to jump aboard the energy transition.
At the end of the day, our Director of Global Affairs Máté Heisz gave a speech GSC’s 2 TW celebration. He will be shortly handing over his GSC Chairmanship to Rodrigo Lopes Sauaia, the Chief Executive Officer of ABSOLAR, the Brazilian Solar Energy Association. Máté outlined how the 2 TW landmark achievement reaffirms solar energy’s unmatched potential to rapidly scale-up, and power the path to a sustainable future.
During our last day in Baku, our Director of Global Affairs Máté Heisz joined a roundtable on 'Accelerating the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) rollout through a human-centred approach,' organised by the European Training Foundation. Máté emphasied how the solar sector is expected to add up to 1 TW of new capacity annually from 2030, potentially even by 2029 onwards; this will require a massive scale-up of our skilled workforce to meet this demand.
Finally, Máté spoke at a discussion on 'ESG Standards for Solar PV Manufacturing,' organised by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), referring to the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), which is dedicated to advancing transparency in solar supply chains.
While at COP29, we met with Abby Hopper, CEO, and Stacy J. Ettinger, Senior Vice-President of Supply Chain and Trade, of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA); Belgian Minister for Energy Tinne Van der Straeten; Greek Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Alexandra Sdoukou; European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, and Head of Environment, Climate and Social Policy Stephen O'Driscoll; and Rana Adib, Executive Director of REN21.
Now, we look forward to seeing ambitious COP29 outcomes. We need to secure a global storage target of 1.5 TW by 2030, and double our grid investment target to deliver flexible, reliable solar power globally. Governments must include ambitious, specific, and actionable renewable energy targets in their new and updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs), something the GRA is calling for as part of their Now Deliver Change Campaign. To deliver our tripling renewables target, we also need innovative financing especially for emerging and developing economies (EDMEs).
Together global partners, we look forward to powering the solar revolution and funding our tripling renewables target!
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