Editorial

The commercialisation of power projects using renewable energy will not be realised without the appropriate policies and programmes in place. In this issue, we focus on the present policy and legal aspects of renewable energy in Europe and Southeast Asia. In Europe, different national priorities and different national contexts have led to a range of different national policies to support the development of renewable energy technology and the development of a market for renewable energy. For more mature technologies, such as wind energy, policies exist aimed at the development of the market for electricity from renewable energy sources. A range of policy instruments and measures are discussed briefly in the first article.

The next article discusses the different policies and programmes initiated in selected ASEAN countries�Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand�to promote grid-connected renewable energy projects.

The third article deals with the most recent developments in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CDM is one of the flexible mechanisms by which developed countries can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions once the Kyoto Protocol comes into effect. All ASEAN countries are non-Annex-I countries and therefore potential host countries for such greenhouse gas reducing projects.

Meanwhile, the Green IPP Network is organising the third regional workshop that will be held in the Netherlands this September. This workshop has an international focus, with a strong emphasis on organisation and financing. Registration is free. Please see details in pages 1 and 9 or visit our website. The next workshop within the Network project will be linked to the "Sustainable Energy in Asia" conference to be held in Singapore in November this year. We hope to see you in both or one of these workshops.

Third Regional Workshop

Experiences of Green Independent Power Producers
Approaches in the international context
25 September 2003, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This workshop will be a meeting place for all those interested in international investments in renewable energy. Experts on renewable energy and international energy investment, both within the European and Asian market will present their experiences.

Topics to be discussed will cover three aspects: policies and market context, project organisation and new financing opportunities, and technology and resources

Throughout the workshop, discussion sessions offer all workshop participants ample opportunity to exchange opinions on the applicability of these experiences and possible success factors in a broader context in Southeast Asia.

In the first session, presentations on developments in the European and ASEAN electricity markets and policies for renewable energy (RE) will lead to a discussion on differences and similarities of these two markets, and applicability of using policy experiences in different country contexts. In the second session, project organisation and financing of RE projects in Asia will be discussed by experts with backgrounds in commercial and development financing, project development and both energy policy and development policy. The expectations of the role of new financing methods and sources on the creation of investment opportunities for renewable energy systems will form the core of the discussion. The third session is centred around case studies on Renewable Energy investment projects. The final discussion round will give the workshop participants the opportunity to discuss the main issues that arise during the day, identifying success factors for investments in renewable energy for Southeast Asia.

For more information or to register for this workshop, please download the workshop document from www.ASEM-GreenIPPnetwork.net or contact : Cora Blankendaal, ECN Policy Studies secretariat; [email protected]; Fax: +31 224 56 8338.