Diving Deep: Choosing between Deep Dive Options at ACEF

(Part 1 of 3)

One of the complaints I commonly hear at ACEF is that there is too much going on, and people find it hard to make a decision on which session to attend. My usual, tongue-in-cheek, response is that this is a good problem to have. But while this glosses over the problem, it is not a very helpful response. So we were talking among ourselves (by the ACEF water cooler), and thought it might be helpful to provide a brief guide to help navigate among, and select, Deep Dive Workshops at this year’s ACEF. This is Part 1 and covers the Deep Dives on Monday of ACEF Week (17 June). Parts 2 and 3 will cover the Deep Dive Workshops held on Wednesday morning, and on Friday (all day).

Networking Morning: Java Jolt and Meet-ups

You can start off your week at ACEF by showing up Monday morning around 8:30 or 9 am and just hanging out. We will have part of the large auditorium open, with chairs and tables, for people to meet and greet each other in a casual and informal manner. You can even email or message a person, or group of people, ahead of time, and set up a meeting. Or just show up and strike up a conversation with the person next to you.

Monday Deep Dives

There will be a total of eight (8) Deep Dive Workshops, or DDWs, on Monday. One of them, on Clean Energy Policy, Financing and Innovation, will be an all-day event, and the rest of them will be in the afternoon. Below is an easy-to-scan summary of each of the DDWs.

Korean Hot Plate: Tapping Korean Experience and Know-How

Title: Clean Energy Policy, Financing and Innovation (the 7th ADB-MOTIE Joint Energy Forum)
Time: 9:00 am to 5:30 pm
Location: Multifunction Hall 2 (in New Wing)
Organizers: Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) Korea Energy Agency, Korea Plant Industries Association (KOPIA), and ADB

This is the only all-day DDW on Monday. The workshop will highlight technology innovation and experience from Korea, and its potential application in the energy sector for sustainable and inclusive growth in ADB developing member countries (DMCs). Speakers from Korea and many other international experts will cover a range of topics, including demand side management and demand response; clean energy project development and social impact financing; including solar mapping; roadmaps for innovative technologies, including for the hydrogen economy, piggybacking DC current into AC systems; virtual power plants, and EV sharing systems.

Get Charged up at the Youth Voltage Tank!

Title: Youth for Asia Voltage Tank
Time: 4:00 to 5:30 pm
Location: Auditorium A

ADB Youth for Asia is organizing a capacity building workshop for young people with an educational/professional background in the energy space. The workshop, run by the STEAM team from King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi (KMUTT) from Thailand, is designed to empower young people in building a more sustainable future.1 The “Crash Course – Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship” will focus on the lifecycle of specific projects and how to make them greener and more “intelligent,” relating the energy innovation with industry 4.0. The Crash Course workshop is designed for young participants and is by invitation only.

Partnerships to Disseminate and Scale-up Innovative Climate Technologies

Title: Accelerating Clean Energy Technology Transformation with the Private Sector
Time: 2:00 to 5:30 pm
Location: Auditorium B
Organizers: CTCN (the Climate Technology Center and Network), along with UN Environment, the European Commission and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI)

CTCN has a mandated to support business opportunities, investments and innovation in climate mitigation and adaptation technologies. This includes (a) supporting countries in the development, deployment and dissemination of existing innovative technologies and the scale-up and diffusion of emerging climate technologies; (b) building partnerships between the public and private sector in the development and transfer of climate technologies; (c) and increasing the capacity for the private and public sectors to develop and transfer climate technologies. This DDW will support increased private sector participation in clean energy technology partnerships. It will feature two 90-minute sessions: the first will focus on the challenges and lessons learned in public-private partnerships (PPPs) and their application in clean energy; and the second will focus on opportunities for the private sector to take advantage of the disruptions created by the energy transition. This DDW will feed into, and pave the way, for a CTCN public-private matchmaking event to be held during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Get the Latest Renewables Update: Launch of REN21’s Global Status Report

Title: Renewable Energy Transition: Is Asia Leading?
Time: 2:00 to 3:30 pm (90 minutes)
Location: Auditorium C
Organizers: REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century)

This DDW will draw on two key REN21 publications: Renewables 2019 Global Status Report and Renewables in Cities – Global Status Report. The workshop will present the status of renewables globally, look at what is happening in Asia and then see what Asian cities are doing, and can do, to drive renewable uptake. Participants will get a concentrated update on the latest information and the status of renewables globally, in Asia and the Pacific and at the city level. They will also have a chance to participate in a global, community-driven process of data reporting

The Subsidy Swap: A Strategy for Clean Energy Scale-up?

Title: The Subsidy Swap in Asia: Reforming Fossil Fuel and Electricity Subsidies to Drive a Renewable Revolution
Time: 4:00 to 5:30 pm (90 minutes)
Location: Auditorium C
Organizers: International Institute for Sustainable Development IISD)

Subsidies continue to support fossil fuel use in countries around the world, increasing demand and holding back the deployment of clean energy – renewables and energy efficiency technologies. The reform of fossil fuel subsidies along with increased environmental taxation has an impact on the energy mix sending a clear signal to investors. The reallocation of revenues from subsidy reform savings and increased environmental taxation to support clean energy deployment, a subsidy “swap”, offers the potential to accelerate the clean energy transition. These clean energy subsidy swaps are starting to be implemented and considered in many countries. This workshop will explore how policymakers are designing fossil fuel subsidy reforms to promote a clean energy transition through the scale-up of clean energy supply chains and finance in Emerging and other developing economies and how public money from subsidy reform or increased fossil fuel taxation can be used to leverage the private sector investment in clean energy vital to this scale-up

How Big a Solution Can Small-Scale Hydro Be, and How to Make it Happen?

Title: Hydro Mini-Grids in the Asia-Pacific: Scaling Inclusive Enterprise-Based Approaches
Time: 2:00 to 5:30 pm
Location: Multifunction Hall 2 (in New Wing)
Organizers: Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET) and Wisions of Sustainability

This DDW will provide development partners and professionals (both experts and generalists) the opportunity to understand recent innovative approaches to sustainable small-scale hydropower, in terms of economic viability and social impact. It will (a) provide an overview of the types of ownership, management, financing, and integrated development models for enterprise-based hydro mini-grids; (b) identify opportunities for scaling enterprise-based hydro mini-grids; (c) discuss solutions to overcome barriers to scalability of high social impact, enterprise-based small-scale hydropower; and (d) explore the role of development partners and other stakeholders in strengthening knowledge services that enable partnerships to scale enterprise-based hydro mini-grids.

Bonus Mini-Grid Game: EnAct Partners will provide participants with a tour of its Mini-Grid Game, a tool to increase consumer engagement and understanding of mini-grid sustainability.

Driving Energy Efficiency in Asia: Get your M’s and V’s Straight!

Title: Scaling up Energy Efficiency with Simplified M&V Meters and ESCO Business Models
Time: 2:00 to 5:30 pm
Location: Multifunction Hall 3 (in New Wing)
Organizers: Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO), the Asia Pacific Industry Alliance, the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS), and the Energy Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS)

Measurement and Verification (M&V) is the meter of an energy efficiency (EE) project, and is required to be able to calculate the achieved energy savings (revenues) with any degree of accuracy or reliability. Without an M&V meter, no responsible investor or financier will fund energy efficiency on a sustainable basis and

energy efficiency will not be recognized as a sustainable or scalable market opportunity. And ESCOs are energy services companies, which can provide a combination of technical design, implementation, and financing to deliver energy savings in homes, buildings, and factories. This DDW will bring together international and Asia-based experts to discuss how energy efficiency efforts can be scaled up for impact. It will provide participants with an updated understanding of: (a) measuring and verifying savings using M&V principles of the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP); (b) details of the new Certified Energy Savings Verifier (CESV) global certification; (c) the energy-efficiency financing gap and the ESCO performance contracting model; and (d), through a series of ESCO country presentations, a comparison of ESCO business models in the Asia-Pacific.