Editorial

Project Description

Introduction

There is a strong political will in many countries of the world to increase the use of renewable energy sources in energy supply, due to growing environmental issues.
Mainly in the European Union measures have been taken to promote renewable energy projects. Special policy actions aiming at fostering renewable energy projects have been implemented. In South East Asia the use of renewable energy is not so advanced as in Europe.
To transfer experiences made in the European power markets on success factors and market potentials of renewable energy projects to Southeast Asia, this project sets up a thematic network on Green IIPs (Independent Power Producers) that focuses on renewable energy projects linking researchers, industry representatives, policy makers and NGOs from Europe and Southeast Asia. Within the scope of this project a Green IPP is defined as an investor-initiated, grid connected non-utility power producer applying renewable energy technologies. The considered technologies within this network project are wind, biomass combustion, biomass digestion and small hydro power plants.

Objective

The objective of this Green IPP-network is to foster a market-driven development of Green IPPs. Derived from this global goal the network will transfer knowledge and experiences on Green IPPs in Europe to Southeast Asia. An overview about Green IPPs in Asia will be generated with regard to successful project structures, innovative financing schemes and policy options to support a successful market penetration of Green IPPs.

Partners

The Green IPP core network is set up by these six institutes:

from Europe

• IIP (Institute of Industrial Production), Germany as coordinator;
• ECN (Energy research Centre of the Netherlands), Netherlands; and
• Risoe (Risoe National Laboratory), Denmark

from Southeast Asia

• CEERD (Center for Energy-Environment, Research & Development), Thailand;
• UPSL (University of the Philippines Solar Laboratory), Philippines; and
• ACE (Asean Centre for Energy), Indonesia.

The project is coordinated by the IIP (Germany). The core network focuses on extending the network by associated partners to reach and include all relevant stakeholders in Europe and Southeast Asia. Target groups for associated partnership are project developers, private investors, banking sector representatives, plant suppliers, research entities, ministries and governmental agencies as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The six institutes of the core network team up in three thematic blocks, each block comprising one European and one Asian partner, that serve as competence centres within the network. These competence centres cover the three important topics determining the future development of Green IPPs:

• project structures and financing approaches,
• renewable energy technologies and resources, and
• policy instruments and regulation.

The intention of the joint assignment of one European and one Asian Partner to each thematic block is to ensure knowledge and experience transfer between both regions. Contents and partners of this three competence centres are described in more detailed on the succeeding pages. The Green IPP network is present at the present Internet address www.ASEM-GreenIPPnetwork.net, where you can also subscribe for the quarterly newsletter of the project and find further information on the network.

The network project is carried out under the European Commission Fifth Framework Programme. The project started in February 2002 and will be completed by January 2004.

Workshop

A first workshop, organized by the Green IPP network, will take place on the 24th and 25th of October in Bangkok, Thailand, where an overview of the current stage of the renewable energy sources in Southeast Asia will be given. Discussions on different market conditions in these countries and their impact on project development will be encouraged. Target groups of this workshop are regional policy makers interested in sustainable energy supply structures as well as regional and foreign investors seeking new investment opportunities in the renewable energy business. To register for this workshop please visit our website (www.ASEM-GreenIPPnetwork.net) or email to or .

Three further workshops will be organized by the Green IPP network dealing with different subjects in the Green power business. Detailed information about these workshops and the contents will be presented at a later date in the newsletters and at the website.