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In 2019, the renewable energy (RE) sector employed at least 11.5 million people worldwide. Of these, 3.8 million worked in solar PV. To date, RE employment opportunities are mainly found in a limited number of countries, such as China, Brazil, the United States, India, and member states of the European Union. Several factors including the scale of national deployment, the magnitude of industrial policies, changes in supply chains’ geographic footprint and in trade patterns, and industry consolidation trends determine how and where RE jobs are created. The transition from conventional energy to RE and energy efficiency (EE) can lead to the creation of many more RE jobs. In its “Global Renewables Outlooks 2020” report, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated that there could be 30 million RE jobs by 2030 and 42 million by 2050, and that EE jobs could employ up to 21.3 million people, doubling the number of jobs in 2020. These new jobs are expected to exceed the jobs lost in fossil fuels and nuclear energy, generating net job gains. However, since the case of each country is unique, country-specific investigations are required to assess the effect of RE and EE growth on employment. In this context, the World Bank, with funding from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), has conducted a series of studies on job creation and replacement based on RE and EE development in three Middle East and North Africa (MNA) countries: The Republic of Yemen, Morocco, and Egypt. This report presents the results for the Republic of Yemen.EXPLORE MORE: Egypt  |  Morocco  |  Yemen

The transition to electric mobility (E-Mobility) represents a complex and multifaceted challenge for power systems that will require a range of solutions and approaches to address. Much of the literature covering this subject takes the perspective of higher-income countries. This report addresses the technical dimension of the challenge in the context of developing countries, intending to inform E-Mobility practitioners and policymakers about the impacts on power systems and potential mitigation strategies.

The Forum and the Partners Meetings were hosted jointly by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), as the ESP Secretariat, the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Loughborough University.As with previous years, the ESP Stakeholder Forum on June 27 brought together multiple energy storage practitioners to a knowledge dissemination forum tailored to promote the adaptation of new and innovative technologies to developing countries’ needs in the framework of decarbonization and achieving the 1.5°C climate goal. More than 80 attendees participated in site visits to stationary battery storage systems and learned from groundbreaking technology sessions.The ESP Stakeholder Forum shares best international practices and provides a platform where World Bank clients share challenges and opportunities that deployment of energy storage systems and renewable energy in developing countries can bring about. AGENDA AND PRESENTATIONS | RECORDINGIntroductory Remarks Chair | Gabriela Elizondo Azuela, Practice Manager, ESMAP, World Bank Demetrios Papathanasiou, Global Director, Energy and Extractives Global Practice, World Bank Peter Warren, Climate Innovation & Finance, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero and Steven Hunt, Senior Energy Innovation Advisor, Climate Energy, and Water, Research and Evidence Directorate, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) |  PresentationDaniel Parsons, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Loughborough University Juliet Pumpuni, Senior Energy Specialist, ESMAP, World Bank, Update of the Energy Storage Partnership (ESP) | PresentationGlobal Trends in Energy Storage – Upcoming Business and Financing Models Chair | Amit Jain- Introducing the Hybrid PPA Report | PresentationOpportunities and Challenges for Energy Storage Deployment in Developing Countries  Role of Energy Storage in Energy Transition in Jordan | PresentationMauritania Energy Transition Acceleration (META) Project | PresentationEnergy Storage, and Innovative Solar Roadmaps in Armenia | PresentationIndia, Innovation in Solar Power, and Hybrid Technologies | PresentationUpdate on the WG2 Global Network of Energy Storage Testbeds (GNEST) Chair | Gabriela Elizondo Azuela, Practice Manager, ESMAP, World Bank  Thabo Hlalele, Head of the Energy Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) | PresentationAmit Jain, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank | PresentationIan Ellerington, Head of Technology Transfer, The Faraday Institution Open Discussion led by the International Finance Corporation on Bankability of Energy Storage Projects Chair | Maham Warraich, Senior Investment Officer, Infrastructure Global Energy, IFC | Presentation Tim Boothman, Director of Corporate Finance, Zenobe | PresentationAlicja Kowalewska-Montfort, Principal – Energy Storage, Gore Street Capital | PresentationJulian Jansen, Senior Director of Strategy, Market Development, and Policy, Fluence | PresentationAnthony Legg, Partner, Energy & Utilities, PA Consulting | PresentationEnergy Storage Technology Updates Session I, presentations followed by Q&A Chair | Chong Suk Song, Energy Storage Specialist, ESMAP, World Bank Presentations on new projects and technology updates on energy storage, and its applicability to developing countries.  Seth Sanders, CTO and Co-Founder, Amber Kinetics, Kinetic Energy Storage Systems (KESS) | PresentationDoron Brenmiller, CCO, Brenmiller Energy, bGen, Thermal Energy Storage (TES) | PresentationDavid Hill, Europe Director, Form Energy, Iron-Air Batteries | PresentationEnergy storage technology updates Session II, presentations followed by Q&A Chair | Dr. Susann Strizke, MECS Senior Research Associate, Loughborough University Presentations on new technology updates on energy storage applications, circular economy on batteries, and battery tech and certification, and its applicability to developing countries.  Jono West, Director of Partnerships, Mobile Power | PresentationAmrit Chandan, CEO and Co-founder, Aceleron | PresentationStuart Nelmes, Engineering Director, Highview | PresentationMark Thompson, Managing Director, AceOn Group | PresentationA.K. Ola Hekselman , CEO and Co-founder, Solveteq | PresentationClosing remarks by the World Bank and Announcement on the Next ESP Meetings Demetrios Papathanasiou, Global Director, Energy and Extractives Global Practice, World Bank  Contact: Juliet Pumpuni 

For two decades, the Transforming Transportation conference, co-organized by the World Bank and World Resources Institute (WRI), has been among the top international platforms to explore challenges and solutions for the development of the transport sector.This year’s theme is “Accelerating Toward Green and Inclusive Mobility.” Climate change, COVID-19, and macroeconomic indicators continue to disrupt the global transport sector – and the people and businesses that rely on it – in unprecedented ways. TT23 will broaden the definition of resilience to consider social, economic, and environmental factors. It will consider the current economic scenario, post-COVID recovery, and outcomes from COP27 as starting points to reimagine transport to make it more inclusive, safe, sustainable, and efficient for everyone.In this context, a technical session: Sustainably Scaling Up the E-Mobility Transition co-organized by Transport GP and ESMAP, explored the advances and challenges of scaling up electric mobility. Watch the session

Download the : Infographic | Report | Event Flyer | PresentationClean cooking is an essential component to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 7.1 – ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services. However, the stark reality is that progress on clean cooking access has been stymied by past perceptions of the sector as orphaned, invisible, and expensive. As of 2020, 2.4 billion people were still living in cooking poverty, compared to 733 million without access to electricity. The review of SDG7 at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the SDG Summit, the Climate Ambition Summit, and COP28 will be important opportunities to strengthen the high-level political commitment and stakeholder action required to tackle the issue, including large-scale public investment to crowd in private investment; and knowledge and innovation to lower the costs of interventions. This joint session was co-hosted by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), prior to the SDG7 Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting. This session presented the key findings from ESMAP’s new report Unlocking Clean Cooking Pathways: A Practitioner’s Keys to Progress, which aims to equip project task teams, development partners, policy makers, implementing agency staff, and practitioners with the knowledge and tools required to drive country progress on clean cooking adoption, drawing mainly on the experience and lessons learned from the World Bank’s operational projects in the sector. The session was also joined by representatives from donors, client countries, and development partners to share insights on how this report can be leveraged by practitioners as a useful resource for moving the needle forward on clean cooking access for all.

The ESMAP Gender and Energy program will participate in the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) on March 14, 2023, from 8:15 am to 9:30 am, at UNHQ.  ESMAP will present the Women’s Employment in Energy Sector Utilities Toolkit, a "one-stop shop" for advice and resources on how to bolster women's employment in energy utilities. This resource links to free, publicly available tools and information aimed at addressing the barriers identified in the World Bank Stepping Up Women’s STEM Careers reports. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion.We have invited key stakeholders from across utilities in developing countries to discuss the importance of closing gender gaps in this space. For questions, please contact Nathyeli Acuna (nacuna@worldbank.org) 

Main Report | Annexes The three-prong crisis — the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change impacts—created, in the short term, new obstacles to countries’ access to energy and decarbonization. These same developments, however, also highlighted the importance of not only staying the course toward affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, but significantly hastening the pace.In this 2022 Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) Annual Report, we highlight the human impact of ESMAP’s work and the ways we responded to the polycrisis by seeking, supporting, and disseminating energy solutions that cater to the needs of those most impacted. To the new questions raised by the crises, and particularly the war in Ukraine, we sought to provide new answers: for example, how to alleviate the impact on the poor of massive surges in fuel prices; or how to tackle the consequences of high energy prices on other sectors, like agriculture.Through ESMAP’s 29 windows, we worked hard to bring to life and move forward initiatives that target the most remote and the most vulnerable populations. These initiatives include projects to accelerate the deployment of solar off-grid and mini grids solutions, programs to electrify with renewables essential public buildings like health centers and schools, and partnerships to bring power to displaced populations. 

Provision of clean cooking for all is recognized as a critical cross-sectoral development issue. The potential societal benefits are enormous, particularly for public health, women’s productivity and empowerment, and the environment. Along with electrification, clean cooking is an essential component to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 7.1 -- ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services. However, the stark reality is that progress on clean cooking access has been stymied by past perceptions of the sector as orphaned, invisible, and expensive. Recent developments have opened a window of opportunity for driving scale.The World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund, the largest dedicated fund for galvanizing political commitment, scaling up public and private investment, and catalyzing innovation is using innovative Results-Based Financing (RBF) designs and applications to promote long-term market development and advance access for all. Lessons and success stories from the World Bank’s recent operational experience in the sector show how making access to clean cooking a political priority, using people-centered approaches, can drive large development impacts for society. To unlock a country’s clean cooking pathways, stakeholders must carefully consider its overall enabling environment, including its institutional capacity to implement transformative solutions. In countries with a high access deficit, addressing the cooking poverty issue will initially require modernizing the biomass fuel sector and promoting integrated, cost-effective approaches. How does one make the case for clean cooking in countries with a high access deficit? What are the guiding principles for developing a clean cooking strategy? What building blocks are necessary to promote market development for long-term sustainability? This report attempts to answer these and other key questions.Download Infographic

Energy storage is fundamental to stockpile renewable energy on a massive scale. The Energy Storage Program, a window of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program’s (ESMAP) has been working to scale up sustainable energy storage investments and generate global knowledge on storage solutions. The program has catalyzed public and private financing to the total amount of US$725 million in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ukraine, and Western Africa. It supported 14 World Bank lending projects (including six mini-grid projects) addressing deployment of renewable energy and storage solutions and increasing battery storage capacity by 2,527 megawatt hours (MWh). The program is also active in providing capacity building and training to clients engaged in energy storage projects and in mentoring women in the energy storage industry.  Read the full blog

Due to rapid urban expansion, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect is one of the fastest-growing climate challenges threatening Guangzhou’s future development. The highest temperature in Guangzhou can reach 39.3 Degree Celsius (China Meteorological Administration, 2020). Rising temperatures lead to an increase in energy consumption and threaten the health of Guangzhou’s citizens. By July 2020, electricity consumption has increased 24 percent from 2019 levels (National Energy Information Platform, 2020). For every degree of temperature increase, electricity consumption in Guangzhou will increase by 2.7 percent with residential energy consumption constituting one-third of the increase (Zheng et al., 2020). Moreover, according to Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2013), heat waves could increase mortality by 4.8 percent. It is urgent to address the increasing temperature and extreme events caused by the UHI Effects in Guangzhou. There is a dire need for immediate solutions to the various risks presented by UHI and climate change. Many cities around the world have already established an integrated urban cooling system through multi-sector collaboration, including Singapore, New York, Sydney, and others. Inspired by their experiences, the World Bank in collaboration with Guangzhou Urban Planning and Design Survey Research Institute, developed the Guidelines on Integrating Nature-based Cooling Solutions into Urban Planning and Design. The Guidelines provide a comprehensive toolkit including 39 cooling strategies to mitigate UHI across scales. Through this report, we address solutions and actions from five dimensions to alleviate UHI effects in Guangzhou: protecting large ecological assets, improving ventilation, promoting permeable surfaces, highlighting the function of city morphology and urban design, and applying green infrastructure.

WATCH THE VIDEOESMAP’s Geothermal Direct Use program organized a study tour in Iceland where over 40 participants from 14 countries from both mature and emerging markets shared knowledge and experiences on geothermal projects. They attended a half day seminar followed by two days of visits to geothermal facilities. The focus of the tour lies on building a geothermal direct use industry, with presentations on the benefits, the legal framework and the history of geothermal direct use in Iceland. The activities of the seminar and Study tour helped build capacity with government and technical participants and provided them the tools and knowledge they need to take the next steps in realizing their geothermal direct use potential and goals.The Geothermal Direct Use program was created as part of the FY21-24 business plan to raise awareness of the value of geothermal direct use in creating and decarbonizing economic activity and to build the enabling environment necessary to scale up its use.  In September 2021, ESMAP collaborated with the International Geothermal Association to host a virtual event to highlight the importance of geothermal resources. The event was attended by a mix of private and public sector participants from 78 countries with more than 280 participants. Learn more about ESMAP's Geothermal Direct Use Program