Renewable energy use for electricity generation in transition economies

Abstract

This paper analyses the renewable energy policies established to promote renewable energy use for electricity generation in 17 transition economies, which are signatory parties to the Paris Agreement. The results show that the average share of renewable energy in electricity generation decreased, although electricity consumption and production increased over the 1995–2016 period. Hydropower generated the largest share of electricity, while the participation of non-conventional renewable energy remained quite low. However, it was solar PV and associated technologies that had grown fastest since 2015. All countries, except Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have at least one renewable energy support policy. The feed-in tariff is the mechanism most used to promote renewable energy, followed by net metering. Tendering is also spreading rapidly in the region. The results show that transition economies are on the way to implementing appropriate measures for renewable energy deployment to diversify their energy mix.