2023 was a milestone year for the GGI team. After launching at COP26 and building a substantial work programme and stakeholder base throughout 2022 and 2023, we are happy to announce that several key campaigns and products were launched this year.
Principles for Interconnectors
The GGI Principles for Interconnectors document offers insights and recommendations based on global experiences and is designed to hold universal principles for interconnector development applicable in many regional contexts. The principles are built around and linked to the key steps of the life cycle for developing interconnectors. These steps come with supporting best practise recommendations and relevant tools for development. You can read the blog article about the role of grid interconnection by GGI Asia-Pacific Working Group lead, Matthew Wittenstein, here.
Electricity Transition Playbook
After a successful summer school where energy professionals from Africa, Latin America, and Asia and the Pacific gave feedback to the modules developed by the Climate Compatible Growth team, the Electricity Transition Playbook is now available on the Open Learn platform here. The Playbook serves as a practical guide to help countries navigate through the complex journey of the electricity transition. It features nine interconnected building blocks of electricity transition with resources for each and has a community of growing knowledge to share best practice. Â
Why Grids? blog series
A new series, written by GGI Ecosystem members, details the critical importance of grids for the energy transition. The pieces each individually make the case that there is truly no transition without transmission. You can read the articles here. The GGI Secretariat team also held a briefing for journalists ahead of COP28. You can watch the briefing here.
Mobilising climate finance for grids
The second working paper, co-produced by the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme and the GGI, highlights the important role that climate finance needs to play in the scale up of grid investment required to support a global clean energy transition.
Cables to Change the World
Our partners and lead for energy systems modelling, Transition Zero, launched the ‘Cables to Change the World’ report on the economic benefits of transmission investments to decarbonise the global electricity supply. Amongst other key findings, the report highlights that building grids could save nearly $3 trillion in the net-zero transition.Â
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Knowledge exchange for regulators in SIDS
The first working paper outlining the outcome of the initial series of knowledge exchange sessions between Caribbean and Pacific small island developing states (SIDS) regulators was produced and launched by UNESCAP and RETA. A key output of the GGI Asia-Pacific Working Group.
KEY EVENTS:
COP28
Presidency roundtable: Greening the Grid - Public-Private Roundtable building the foundations of the future energy system. Government ministers, finance institutions, private sector CEOs, and representatives of civil society and other international organisations met to discuss practical actions to accelerate the deployment of electricity grids and create a future energy system fit for renewables. Participants strongly welcomed the COP28 Global Renewable and Energy Efficiency Pledge and recognised the critical role of electricity networks as the critical foundation and enabler of our collective commitment to work together to triple global installed renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
Panel: North Sea Transition - Building the world’s first net zero energy super hub. This event will brought together industry leaders, policy makers, and other stakeholders, to delve into key strategies for driving the clean energy transition across the North Sea. The event launched the GGI Principles for Interconnection.
Panel: Implementing a Plan of Action - Investing in Grids as an Energy Transition Enabler. Co-hosted with the Powering Past Coal Alliance, IRENA and the Global Renewables Alliance, the Electricity Transition Playbook was presented.
Green Grids Investment Dialogue: In July, the Climate Parliament launched a consultation process with international CEOs and investors (public and private) to develop a joint proposition to politicians which will set out policy recommendations designed to unleash the massive surge needed in green infrastructure investment and development to power the clean energy revolution. During a two-day parliamentary forum in Dubai alongside COP28, the first Dialogue between investors, regulators and parliamentarians was held and the Investors’ Statement agreed.
Meetings and webinars
In February, we held the first in person meeting of the Africa Working Group in the Dinokeng nature reserve, South Africa. National and regional experts on energy and finance discussed support mechanisms for the Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana-Namibia (ZiZaBoNa) regional transmission project, alongside other projects, and complementary support available through the GGI Ecosystem. A lengthy consultation process is now complete for the next phase of the project.
In September we co-hosted a webinar with the Powering Past Coal Alliance on The Future of the Grid’. You can watch the webinar here.
In November we co-hosted a webinar on the role of civil society organisations in energy and grid planning. Â
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The above is thanks to the efforts of dozens of industry experts and stakeholders across the GGI Ecosystem. In 2024, big changes are coming for GGI. Watch this space.
Wishing everyone a restful end to the year. Happy holidays.
The GGI Secretariat