BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 1. The new energy system
is increasingly dominated by renewables, hydrogen and biomass,
Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA) Francesco La Camera said in an exclusive interview with
Trend on the sidelines of the Baku Energy Week.
He pointed out that the energy transition is absolutely in place
and is accelerating.
“The ongoing energy crisis will push forward the acceleration
process. Every year renewables are breaking new records in terms of
yearly installed capacity. In the last years, around 90% of the new
installed capacity were renewables. We are inevitably moving to a
new energy system that will be largely dominated by renewables,
complemented by sustainable use of biomass and hydrogen, mainly
green hydrogen.
The question is if this is happening in a speed that is
consistent with the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals. It’s
fast, but we need a further acceleration. The main barriers that we
see are the infrastructure. We need to have grids that are
interconnected, flexible, and balanced. We need a legal environment
that is more favorable to renewables. We need also to enhance the
capacity, which means reskilling the workers coming from the old
system of the new one. These are the three main barriers that we
see,” said the IRENA director general.
La Camera highlighted the need to rethink the way international
cooperation is structured.
“In particular, support from multilateral financial institutions
should prioritize the development of the infrastructure required
for the new energy system,” he said.
IRENA’s director general noted that there is a need for grids
that are interconnected, flexible, and resilient, and naturally
storage is part of this.
“We also need tools such as digitalization, as well as
artificial intelligence, which can support the functioning of a
regulated system in a balanced and flexible way. All these elements
may contribute to overcoming the first challenge we see in
accelerating the transition through this infrastructure. At the
same time, it is essential to strengthen public-private
partnerships and implement policies that help reduce investment
risks. From our perspective, these are the key priorities for
accelerating the energy transition,” he said.
La Camera believes that today, energy security can be achieved
through renewables.
“It was an established view that fossil fuels were the main way
to ensure energy security. However, I think the latest crisis has
shown that, in essence, a fossil fuel-based system is not the best
way to ensure energy security. We have seen the disruptions. It is
better to move towards a decentralized energy system with many
actors on the ground, and this means shifting towards renewables.
Today, energy security can be achieved through renewables. This is
why countries and the private sector have invested heavily in
renewables in recent years, and continue to do so, as they are a
key instrument for ensuring energy security and greater domestic
independence. And when we talk about costs, renewables have proven
to be the cheapest way to produce electricity today. All these
factors together suggest, in my view, that the energy transition
will continue to accelerate,” he noted.
He underlined IRENA’s comprehensive support for countries’
renewable energy transition, covering both strategic planning and
the deployment of renewable projects.
“The best approach is to bring the country together and support
it in long-term planning. We have been assisting countries in
preparing and presenting their national contributions within the
UNFCCC process. From the planning stage, we then work to facilitate
project implementation and financing. Our financial platform is
also designed for this purpose. This is how we aim to achieve
maximum impact—by supporting countries from the planning phase
through to the deployment of renewables on the ground,” La Camera
said.
