Mapping national renewable energy resources is a crucial step in providing governments with the information they need to support the sustainable expansion of renewable power generation. ESMAP has launched a new initiative to support country-level resource mapping for biomass, small hydro, solar and wind. Funding is available to World Bank Group operational units for comprehensive resource mapping and spatial planning projects, including ground-based data collection, data analysis, GIS mapping, strategic environmental assessment, and policy integration. By working closely with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), ESMAP also hopes to contribute to the Global Solar and Wind Atlas by providing access to all data commission under this initiative.

The initiative, launched in October 2012 is expected to run over four years, supporting at least 10 country level resource mapping and spatial planning studies. As ESMAP core funding is limited, co-funding at the project level is being actively pursued. Individual country projects will be listed on this website as soon as they are approved.

For further details about this initiative, please download the 2-page Project Summary. 

Resource mapping practitioners and energy professionals may be interested in joining the Resource Energy Resource Mapping group on the LinkedIn® professional networking services website. 

Photo Credit: SolarGIS (c) 2012 GeoModel Solar.

Outputs 

• ESMAP Research | Renewable Energy Resource Mapping Status Report
• ESMAP Knowledge Exchange Forum 2012 | Renewable Energy Resource Mapping: Summary, Agenda and Presentations  | Blog post
• Best Practice Guidelines for Mesoscale Wind Mapping Projects for the World Bank (2010) | Report

Related Links

• Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA): About SWERA | Visualization Tool
• International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA): Global Solar and Wind Atlas | Portal for Studies on Renewable Energy Potential
• US National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Assessments and Tools: NREL Website
• Wind Energy Resource Atlas for the Pacific Islands and South East Asia: ASTAE Website
• Join our group Renewable Energy Resource Mapping on 

Contact

Oliver Knight at esmap@worldbank.org

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