Promoting Renewable Energy – Promoting Cooperation - Foundation Office Washington, D.C.
Event Reports
Already in the fall of 2010, KAS Israel had organized a seminar on RE with Israeli and Palestinian energy consultants and engineers in Cadenabbia, Italy. In order to build on the momentum gained at that seminar, the three KAS offices decided to further strengthen Israeli and Palestinian capacities in the field of energy policy by organizing a delegation visit to the United States.
Apart from this motivation, it was important to provide an opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to meet. The circumstances in their region are unfortunately less inviting for an open dialogue. Such a dialogue is greatly needed to further the development of pragmatic solutions with regard to the existing highly technical problems. Focusing on a specific sector such as RE – which is a sector of mutual interest to the participants – allows experts to leave politics aside and to engage in outcome-oriented discussions.
The delegation focused on the following key aspects throughout the study trip:
• The level of RE in the Unites States and in Germany. Here the underlying question throughout the visit was, “What are the lessons learnt when increasing the share of RE?”
• The geographic dependency and applicability of renewables.
• Infrastructural, legal and financial requirements for investments in RE.
• Opportunities for future cooperation in RE projects between Israelis and Palestinians, and possibly the inclusion of an American and German component.
The delegation consisted, among others, of managers and engineers of power companies, business developers and energy associations from Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Felix Dane, Director of the KAS Office in Ramallah, and Nadine Mensel, Deputy Director of the KAS Office in Jerusalem, accompanied the experts to Chicago and Washington D.C., where the group was welcomed by Dr. Lars Hänsel, Director of the KAS Office in Washington, and Jeanene Lairo, Program Manager of the same office.
Ambassador ret. J. D. Bindenagel, Vice President for Community, Government, and International Affairs at De Paul University in Chicago, was the first to address the group on March 5th. He expressed his joy to see the joint delegation coming to the U.S. and, in particular, to Chicago. Currently, the city enjoys an economic boom in the RE industry. Due to the economic crisis, the automobile industry in the Great Lakes region was greatly affected, resulting in entrepreneurs to seek new business opportunities. The field of RE – and especially the wind energy – led to a boom in investment and employment.
Wind energy remained on the agenda the following day. The delegation took part in the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) Midwest Conference. Together with American and German energy experts approaches and solutions to integrated energy systems were discussed. Moreover, Amna Khan and Nicole Edmund (both AWEA representatives) engaged the group into a roundtable discussion, which presented new options for wind energy in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
What makes the situation in the Southern Levant so different from the U.S. is its geographic size. Many stakeholders have competing interests in how the scarce land should be used. In addition, wind capacities in Israel and the Palestinian Territories – unlike the U.S. – do not reach a level where wind parks become a viable investment. In this regard, the AWEA roundtable discussion was helpful in clarifying that with the newest technology available even moderate wind-levels can generate sufficient megawatts. The advantage is that wind turbines parks require less land than solar parks. Therefore, in particular, the members of the Palestinian delegation are exploring opportunities to create a wind map for the West Bank. Only such a tool can determine which part of the Territories is most suitable for wind energy.
The main topic at a workshop hosted by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs was RE’s economic aspect. During the two sessions, the Israeli and Palestinian energy experts gained insights into the RE market in the U.S. Recent years have seen a huge demand in RE, resulting into technological improvements, lower costs and policy changes at the state and federal levels.
For Michael Polsky, CEO of Invenergy LLC, those developments are simply related to the fact that “the industry goes where the business is.”. This applies to large and small enterprises. He also believes that RE is a non-reversible development with a need for more central policy direction. Nathan Laurell, founder of New Frontier Holdings, introduced the audience to a systematic approach of energy production, consumption and reuse. In this regard, especially the agricultural sector has become highly innovative.
Speakers of the second panel focused on the implications for policy-makers as the share of RE increases. At every level of government the focus of involvement differs. According to Ronald Cope from the Energy and Clean Technologies Group, it is not surprising, that each level of government varies in how it decides to regulate energy policy and to encourage investment in renewables.
Tom Cushing’s statement centered on the recognition that fossil fuels are finite. Accordingly, the Director of Strategic Partnerships & Policy at the Delta Institute concluded, new solutions are needed in the transportation sector. Currently, there is no infrastructure for alternatively fueled vehicles. Therefore, the automobile industry, R&D institutions and policy-makers alike are asked to step up their initiatives in that respect.
Following the remarks, the members of the delegation and other participants engaged in a lively discussion on the status of RE in the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The discussion revealed that they face common issues and challenges, such as, energy efficiency, the development of an adequate feed-in tariff, the question of storage, and the involvement of the private business sector. As for the latter issue, business involvement can be better achieved by combining economics and ecology.
The overall impression from this first part of the study trip was quite overwhelming. For the members of the delegation it was fascinating to see how much progress the United States has made in promoting RE in recent years. An observation made by the participants was that the U.S.’ main interest in RE is centered on the economy, including job creation for small and medium enterprises and gaining a competitive advantage in new technologies. Despite all optimism, most of the delegation’s interlocutors were aware of the long way ahead and referred to Germany’s RE policies, its level of development, and the high level of endorsement by the German popula
tion as a benchmark for the U.S.
On March 7th, the group departed to Washington, D.C., where the first meeting took place with energy and regional experts from the World Bank Group. The topic was “Regional Energy Challenges in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA)”. The development of RE is very much in line with the World Bank’s attempt to turn itself into a “Green Bank”. During the last couple of years, different credit lines and other financial facilities were introduced to increase the share RE on a global scale and to accelerate sustainable growth at the same time. Klaus-Werner Schmitter, Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for Germany at the World Bank, emphasized that these priorities were in line with Germany’s Social Market Economy (“Soziale Marktwirtschaft”).
Ranjana Mukherjee, Acting World Bank Program Coordinator of West Bank and Gaza, Carrie Farley, IFC Investment Officer, Roger Coma, World Bank Energy Specialist, and Patricia Veevers-Carter, World Bank Sector Manager Energy and Transport, all expressed their preference for a regional approach in terms of energy production and supply. However, the ongoing upheavals throughout the MENA region, as well as the political barriers have put many World Bank projects on hold. But with regard to individual countries’ or territories’ development of RE, all speakers were confident that the infrastructure for RE will increase over time.
A recent study was presented that, for example, showed the potential for solar energy and biogas in the West Bank. As Mr. Coma explained, it was therefore of utmost importance to develop a smart grid in the Palestinian Territories allowing for a higher degree of independence from the Israeli grid. Such a decision, however, does not rest solely with the Palestinians. In the end, the Israeli military and its civil administration in the West Bank have the final say. Only a change in the political situation would bring about the hope for the advancement of RE in the region.
The evening roundtable event titled, “Renewable Energy as a path to Energy Independence: Realistic?”, was meant to be thought provoking for all participants. The event allowed the Palestinian and Israeli energy experts to engage in in-depth talks with strategic analysts, legal advisors and consultants who are active in the German-American policy community. Among the guests were representatives from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the World Bank, German Embassy, and German experts working for US-based NGOs.
As the Director of Ecologic Institute, R. Andreas Kraemer, exemplified, there was “no single silver bullet in developing RE.” Although Palestinians and Israelis can certainly learn a lot from the German experience, the implementation of RE technology, financial and policy instruments will have to be adapted to local needs. For example, the recent discovery of natural gas fields off Israel’s coast will have a direct impact on the development of renewables. It is yet to be determined whether this will have a positive or negative impact on further development and implementation of RE.
Similar questions were raised the next day when the delegation met with representatives from the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), the GIZ and Sullivan & Worcester, a law firm with specialization on energy legislation and investments. Jim Pickup, the President of the MEII, introduced the group to the Initiative’s rationale. Since both Israel and the Palestinian Territories are not only small markets, but also are affected by security concerns, American investors hesitate to invest capital in RE projects.
What the MEII can do, though, is to offer flexible microcredit opportunities and an insurance against losses. Especially in the Palestinian Territories small contributions can have a big effect. Energy for basic services such as water pumps, lighting and computers can be provided through RE based power plants. But reality is that the region faces a number of constraints: (1) the lack of an energy strategy by the Palestinian Authority, (2) the ongoing Israeli occupation (the best locations for solar energy in the West Bank are in “Area C”, and (3) the absence of financial means.
These topics remained paramount during the afternoon session hosted by the RAND Corporation. Together with Jim Bartis, Senior Energy Policy Researcher, Ross Anthony, Director of RAND Palestine Initiative, and Debra Knopman, Vice President of RAND Corporation, the group presented a regional strategy on energy. It was important to think beyond an Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories and plan for an independent Palestinian state that will rely on sustainable and steady energy resources. Only this can guarantee economic growth and guarantee a secure human development of a future independent Palestinian state. Apart from these implications, the energy experts also took a look at different security concerns and the effect on both economies if the authorities failed to provide for energy sufficiently. Among others, RAND studies indicated that the region had an impressive potential to exploit oil shale and to use solar energy on a far larger scale than currently the case.
Besides seeking to enlarge existing power generation schemes or to build new power plants, it was of equal important to run educational campaigns on energy efficiency. Scott Sklar, President of The Stella Group Ltd., invited the delegation first to see a mobile solar energy station and afterwards to tour his house, explaining his holistic approach to generating, using and reusing energy. The Stella Group Ltd. in cooperation with SkyBuilt Power Technology, is one of the leaders in providing self-contained, rapidly deployable, renewable and hybrid energy power systems. Such installations were particularly attractive to areas difficult to access; or – in the case of the Palestinian Territories – to villages disconnected from the grid.
The revolution in the communication sector proved that mobile facilities are easier to operate and less costly to install. Many countries just skipped the stage of creating a landline network and headed directly to a mobile telecommunication network. A similar scenario for the energy sector was presented as a thought-provoking question to the group: Why not establish a network of local power plants supplied by RE? To listen to Scott Sklar’s philosophy and future plans was quite exhilarating and fascinating. The study trip of the Israeli and Palestinian energy experts could not have ended on a more optimistic note.
Although many political questions remained unsolved, the group gained new insights into technical solutions and state-of-the-art devices (e.g. solar panels, heat exchangers and windtowers). For the success of this project it will be critical to keep the group dynamic going, as well as to foster everyone’s commitment to cooperate in the field of renewable energy.
