Energy planning can hold the key to effectively addressing challenges related to climate change, air quality, energy security and resource limitations, agreed participants of a three-day virtual workshop, organized by the IAEA from 19 to 21 July in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Energy planning is directly linked to national development and to sustainable national development—reliable access to clean, affordable and safe energy is a cornerstone of economic growth and improved human well-being. Through its technical cooperation programme, the IAEA offers a broad variety of training programmes, knowledge sharing fora and technical guidance to help countries chart out their energy strategies on the basis of future energy demand models and projections.
Organized through an ongoing regional project[1] and in the framework of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Asia and the Pacific (RCA), the workshop provided an opportunity for ADB, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and IAEA experts to showcase existing opportunities for capacity building and training in the use of the Agency’s energy planning tools.
The 25 attending experts from across Asia and the Pacific attended a series of presentations setting out the foundations of energy demand and supply modelling, including a demonstration of the IAEA’s Model for Energy Supply System Alternatives and the General Environmental Impacts (MESSAGE) tool.
With the basic scientific concepts, tools and procedures of energy modelling established, expert lecturers at the workshop provided guidance on how various social, economic and technological driving factors can affect the scenarios modelled by energy planners. For instance, models which prioritize low energy costs may delay the realization of national climate targets, whereas scenarios in which low-carbon sources are subsidized would accelerate progress towards those targets.
An in-person regional workshop for RCA countries will take place from 10 to 21 October as a follow-up to the three-day virtual workshop. The in-person event will focus on IAEA energy planning tools, including MESSAGE.
