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spearheaded by UNIDO, is designed to further enhance regional
collaboration on renewable energy as well as energy efficiency.
below that of the peak in the mid-2000s. (p See Figures 38 and
39, and Reference Table R20.)
A number of sub-national governments also made new renewable
energy commitments in 2015 both at the state/provincial and
municipal levels. The Compact of States and Regions includes
commitments to renewable energy from some of the world’s
largest sub-national actors, including the US states of California
and New York; the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec;
Rio and São Paulo in Brazil, as well as territories in Australia and
Europe. 8
While targets are an important tool, they do not guarantee
success. For example, the United Kingdom confirmed in
November that it would miss the EU’s requirement of a 15%
share of renewable energy in the country’s energy consumption
by 2020, citing the lack of properly designed policy mechanisms
(primarily in the transport and heat sectors) to meet its goal. 9
Spain also is expected to miss its 2020 obligation. 10
POWER GENERATION
Policy makers continued to utilise deployment targets to
outline their visions for power sector development, including
the expansion of electricity access. In Africa, the Republic of
the Congo, Eritrea, Gabon and Namibia established renewable
power targets of 70% or greater, with lower goals set in Côte
d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Liberia and Sudan. i Policy makers in Latin
America also set some of the world’s highest renewable power
share targets, led by Costa Rica (100% by 2030), Uruguay (95%
by 2017), Belize (85% by 2027), Guatemala (80% by 2030) and
Bolivia (79% by 2030). Lower shares were targeted in Brazil,
Chile and Paraguay. 11 Building on past commitments, a number
of SIDS committed (through their INDC submissions) to the full
transformation of their power sectors. For example, Papua New
Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu all committed to achieving 100%
renewable electricity by 2030, and Cabo Verde committed to
100% by 2035. 12
New goals for lower renewable shares as well as renewable
capacity targets have been set around the world. ( R See
Reference Tables R17–R19.)
State- and provincial-level policy makers also established new
commitments to renewable power in 2015. Notably, Hawaii
announced its intention to become the first US state to run
entirely on renewable power, setting an RPS mandate for 100%
renewables by 2045. 13 Other state/provincial targets can be
found in Australia, Belgium, China, Kosovo, New Zealand, the
United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The state of
Lower Austria in Austria achieved its goal of generating 100%
of the area’s power from renewable sources in November 2015. 14
As of year-end 2015, feed-in policies (feed-in tariffs and feed-in
premiums; see Glossary) remained the most widely adopted
form of renewable power support, in place in 75 countries at the
national level and in 35 states/provinces/territories. In 2015, with
no new countries adding new feed-in policies for the first time
since 2000, the rate of new adoption continues to remain far
Globally, feed-in policies are in the midst of a transitional period,
with policy makers making significant changes to rates and
design to keep pace with changing market conditions brought
on by technological innovation, increasing deployment, falling
prices and shifting public opinion. Some countries with mature
renewable energy markets, for example, have targeted their FITs
to specific technologies (e.g., smaller-scale generators or solar
PV), while phasing in competitive bidding to support larger-scale
projects. At the same time, countries with less-mature renewable
energy markets have continued to explore the use of feed-in
policies to broadly incentivise project development.
In Europe – the birthplace of the modern feed-in policy –
significant changes were made to a number of national FIT
frameworks in 2015. Some changes have been instituted in
response to European Commission (EC) State Aid guidelines that
require a shift to renewable tenders for many projects by 2017 ii .
For example, in response to EC recommendations and public
opinion, Germany removed FITs for solar PV projects of 0.5–10
MW in size in favour of new tender schemes. 15 France and Poland
also have used tendering to allocate large-scale renewable
energy projects over 250 kW and 500 kW, respectively. 16
While FIT rates were reduced in some countries, including the
United Kingdom and Ukraine, small-scale solar PV systems saw
an increase in support in other countries, including France, Malta
and Poland. 17 FIT schemes were also expanded: for example, both
France and Ukraine extended support to cover bio-power, with
the programme in Ukraine also covering geothermal power. 18
Feed-in rate review and revision occurred in many of Asia’s
largest economies, continuing a trend of the last few years.
New rates were introduced in Malaysia and Pakistan, whereas
policy makers in China, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand
made revisions to solar PV and wind FIT rates, both positive and
negative. For example, the Philippines doubled the capacity cap
for wind power projects under the FIT while lowering rates. 19
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Algeria
implemented the FIT policy adopted in 2014, offering preferential
tariffs for solar PV and wind projects of 1 MW and over. 20 In sub-
Saharan Africa, Ghana instituted a temporary cap on its FIT that
limits utility-scale solar PV until the country can assess the impact
of initial projects that are pending construction and connection. 21
Changes also were made in Tanzania, which revised tariff
rates during 2015, moving from payments based on seasonally
adjusted utility avoided costs to technology-differentiated tariffs
that are adjusted based on the US Consumer Price Index. 22
No new FIT policies were added in Latin America during 2015, and
few changes were made to the region’s existing policies during
the year. Ecuador eliminated FIT support to all technologies,
while regulators in Costa Rica proposed new FIT rates for solar
PV systems. 23
05
i Some targets include large-scale hydropower and some do not. See Reference Table R17 for additional details.
ii The guidelines include certain exemptions to the tendering requirement, including for small-scale projects (capacity ranges set by technology) and
technologies in early stages of development.
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