RECIPES: Renewable Energy markets in Emerging and Developing Countries
RECIPES was an EU-funded project, which aimed at giving a clear and complete understanding of the Renewable Energy markets in emerging and developing countries, to promote these markets to the European RE industry and to contribute to the implementation of renewable energy in emerging and developing countries.
RECIPES was carried out by consortium of research and consulting companies of Belgium, the Netherlands and Paraguay in close collaboration with reputed local experts in the 15 emerging and developing countries. The project team was in continuous contact with stakeholders of the study. The local experts conducting the country studies consulted national experts and national authorities for information and opinions.
RECIPES main results
With strong policy the renewable energy volume in emerging and developing countries will triple by 2020; renewable energy would then account for 6% of the primary energy supply of emerging and developing countries. With current policy the renewable energy volume in emerging countries will double by 2020. These are the main conclusions of RECIPES, an EU funded research project. Experts consider these increases as very realistic.
RECIPES brought together a mine of information on renewable energy in emerging and developing countries. RECIPES produced 215 reports including 114 country briefs, 15 detailed country studies with key data, maps, policy descriptions and project sheets, and a series of overarching reports presenting the project’s conclusions and recommendations.
At present, Brazil has the largest renewable energy volume of the emerging and developing countries, due to its high use of biomass and bio-fuels. China has the second largest volume, followed by Indonesia. Using the 2020 reference and maximum scenarios, Brazil and China still have the largest renewable energy volumes but other countries also grow to substantial volumes, notably Argentina, Mexico, India, Indonesia and Thailand. At continent level, renewable energy is well established in Latin America, grows quickly in Asia and also shows signs of growth in Africa although levels remain low in sub-Saharan Africa.
RECIPES furthermore carried out research on the socio-economic impact of renewable energy. In a survey, 123 experts from all over the world, having a good understanding of the socio-economic impacts of energy technologies gave their opinion on the socio-economic impacts of energy technologies in their countries. The main conclusion is that an increased volume of renewable energy has positive socio-economic impacts in emerging and developing countries.
RECIPES in addition looked into the opportunities for the EU renewable energy industries in emerging and developing countries. The main conclusion is that emerging and developing countries present a highly interesting market for EU renewable energy industry but also that competition is fierce and risks are higher than in the domestic market. The wind power and small/medium hydropower markets of emerging and developing countries present the highest opportunities. Potentially high, but still relatively unsure are the opportunities for EU renewable energy industry in emerging and developing countries in bio fuels, solid biomass, biogas and photovoltaic.
RECIPES formulated recommendations for different stakeholders: the energy actors in emerging and developing countries, the EC and the EU renewable energy industry. Short and long-term recommendations are proposed which would ultimately lead to more coherent and efficient policy making on renewable energy in emerging and developing countries.
More information and all the reports are accessible on www.energyrecipes.org.