#MAR 1: Mapping joint research and innovation actions for next-step development of Renewable Energy Systems specific challenges
Energy is a key driver of national development and energy access is crucial to the delivery of fundamental services such as healthcare and education. African countries need energy to improve quality of life and transition to higher income countries. Within the energy transition, African countries need to adopt low carbon energy sources. This is nowadays possible since the continent has a lot of renewable energy potential which can serve different development needs. This transition will also require research and innovation actions to support the rethinking of energy infrastructure, energy access and energy uses, taking into consideration different political, cultural and social contexts on the continent. Recent deployments of renewable energy systems (RES) in Africa have been achieved using pre‐existing technologies built for centralized and grid connected systems in high income countries. Most renewable energy systems are suitable for this context but can also be used in decentralized and off grid contexts. Therefore, there is need to optimize existing solutions and support innovation of solutions specifically designed for RES deployment in Africa.
Mapping research and innovation actions will aim at developing a common data base of incoming open and close actions from which lesson and direction can be taken for driving R&I for RES. This roadmap proposes to keep up the stage of the Africa-Europe collaboration in research and innovation to develop new solutions and adapt existing solutions to local context. Scientific and grey literature will be continuously investigated to update the mapping. Next step development of RES in Africa will be defined by LEAP-RE aligned with the scientific and international community. It will provide a detailed map of updated research and innovation initiatives in Europe and Africa by technology and application with the aim of assisting the RE industry to prioritize and contextualize target areas of RES deployment. The mapping exercise would be drawn in line with the following criteria alongside the desirable outputs, outcomes and impacts: (i) compliance with national policies for RE development; (ii) compliance with the needs of local population is essential; (iii) focus on efficiency and reliability; (iv) compliance with low carbon and a replacement of conventional energy solutions; and (v) focus on achieving universal access for all in the short term.
Outputs
• A global reference of the huge amount of literature and science and joint projects that have been undertaken in the last decade as far as R&I on RES in Africa will be updated
• KPIs, Categorisations and prioritization of RES will be set in a consistent way with the literature (scientific and grey) in order to align our work to that of the international community
• A methodology for measuring technology readiness levels and the identification of TRLs of different RE technologies in different African countries
• A precise map of RES components and systems dedicated to African needs
• Identification of key R&I actors and stakeholders for joint Europe/Africa future initiatives;
• Identification of key parameters for feasibility of RE projects and the mapping of RE resources;
• Identification of areas of profitability and limits of projects according to the RE availability.
Outcomes
• Updated knowledge and base data on the scenario and progress of EU-AU R&I cooperation on RES
• Increased awareness of existing networks in RE in AU -EU by researchers on both continents
• Information from this Mapping can be used as a starting point by RE researchers;
Impacts
• Closer long-term oriented collaboration between African and European funders of R&I and H&ICB;
• Closer collaboration between researchers, innovators and funders of innovations through the systemic development of innovation hubs;