12

January - 2021

Demand for electricity will increase as we switch away from using fossil fuels, especially in heating and transport. This growth in electricity use will require expanding renewable energy, and improvements to the system that distributes all that electricity: the grid. Without civil society advocating for grid development, as well as investment in renewables, the energy transition will not happen quickly enough.

In the context of the PAC project, REN21 organised two nearly identical sessions on Tuesday 3 November to accommodate different time zones.

56 participants joined the virtual event at 9:00 CET and 16:00 CET on Tuesdsay 3 November to discuss these two critical questions:

What is the role of power grids in the transition to renewable energy?
How can civil society drive this change?

Participants left with an understanding of the role that civil society can play in grid planning efforts and with ideas for how they can get involved in their local community.

During the event, participants heard from experts from around the world who shared real-world examples of civil society shaping grid planning. The presentation also included an explanation of the role of grids in the energy transition. Finally, participants were invited to join discussions on real-world examples and ask the presenters questions to learn about engaging civil society in the grid planning process.

Agenda

9:00 – 11:00 CET Session

Start time in other time zones: 15:00 Manila | 8:00 London | Convert to your time zone
Click here to open a PDF with a list of speakers and a detailed agenda

16:00 – 18:00 CET Session

Start time in other time zones: 11:00 Rio de Janeiro | 7:00 Los Angeles | Convert to your time zone
Click here to open a PDF with a list of speakers and a detailed agenda

Event recordings

Find below two recordings of the morning (left) and afternoon (right - soon to be uploaded) sessions from the event.

Documents

Click here to read the 4-page outreach document that can be shared with local decision-makers, NGOs and others in order to engage more people and groups in this work.

Click here to read the Case Study Report with examples of citizen engagement in scenario planning.

Find below PDFs of the PowerPoint Presentations for each of our speakers:

Antina Sander, Renewables Grid Initiative
Wendel Trio, Climate Action Network Europe & Patrick ten Brink, European Environmental Bureau
Australian perspective – Natasha Sinclair, Australia Energy Market Operator (AEMO)
Japanese perspective – Teruo Ohno, TEPCO Power Grid, Inc.
Chilean perspective – Prof. Enzo Sauma Santis, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; and Sebastián Jesús Oliva Henríquez, Metropolitan University of Technology