ESMAP papers

444 items available

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The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) is a global knowledge and technical assistance program administered by the World Bank. It provides analytical and advisory services to low‐ and middle‐income countries to increase know‐how and institutional capacity to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth. This collection contains technical reports, working papers, knowledge series papers, case studies, formal reports, toolkits, and other such reports not published formally.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 444
  • Publication
    Exploring Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment in the Energy Sector in Central Asia
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-22) World Bank
    This study assesses gender gaps in the energy sector in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is based on a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews, accompanied by focused statistical analysis and a review of national policy and legislative frameworks. A key contribution of this study is the provision of new qualitative insights into the practical barriers to women’s increased participation in the energy sector, reflecting the views of students in energy-related disciplines, academic staff, and employees and company representatives across the four countries. Finally, targeted recommendations are offered on how policy makers, companies, and educational institutions can reduce gender gaps in the energy sector across Central Asia.
  • Publication
    Jobs generated by the Kosovo Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-22) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    The Kosovo Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project (KEEREP) successfully generated direct and indirect employment opportunities in Kosovo through EE retrofits and related activities. The project also contributed to skill development and market growth in the EE sector, potentially leading to further job creation in the future. However, challenges related to the importation of materials and the need for domestic certification were identified as areas for improvement in facilitating domestic job growth. This case study seeks to shed light on the employment impacts associated with World Bank financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in public buildings overseen by the central government as part of the KEEREP.
  • Publication
    Jobs Generated by the Rwanda Development Policy Operations: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-22) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    This report presents the findings and conclusions of a case study undertaken under a program of analytical work that investigates the impacts of the global transition to clean energy on the quantity and quality of jobs in low- and middle-income countries. The World Bank supported the government of Rwanda in institutionalizing least-cost principles for power-sector expansion through a series of three consecutive annual Development Policy Operations (DPOs) between 2017-2018 and 2019-2020. The objective was to enable fiscally sustainable expansion of electricity services in Rwanda while improving operational efficiency, affordability, and accountability. The case study found that while there was some association between electricity reforms and job creation in Rwanda, the link was not straightforward, and the impact on formal employment was limited. Other factors and constraints, as well as the time required for infrastructure improvements to translate into employment outcomes, may have played significant roles in shaping the labor market. In summary, while there was some association between electricity reforms and job creation in Rwanda, the link was not straightforward, and the impact on formal employment was limited. Other factors and constraints, as well as the time required for infrastructure improvements to translate into employment outcomes, may have played significant roles in shaping the labor market.
  • Publication
    Employment Impacts of Clean Energy Investments in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Literature and Methodologies Used in Assessment
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-22) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    Significant scale-up of clean energy, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, is the most important component of worldwide efforts to address climate change and increase energy access. As clean energy makes a growing contribution to the total energy supply, as countries undertake their energy transitions, it is also expected to create millions of jobs. This review is part of an investigation into how the global energy transition - the move away from fossil fuels, which involves the adoption of new technologies and new service delivery models in the sector can contribute to job creation and support economic activity while advancing the global decarbonization agenda. The objective of this literature review is to understand how existing academic and policy work has assessed the impact of energy-transition-related policies, regulations, and investments on job creation, wages, and other employment-related outcomes. This review covers studies of energy sector jobs as well as jobs created in upstream sectors resulting from energy-transition-related investments and policy changes. The review also includes studies of wider, often economywide, “induced” employment effects. In particular it focuses on the impact of electrification programs using distributed renewable generation, since such programs make it possible to establish causality in job creation more clearly than clean energy projects contributing additional power to existing grids.
  • Publication
    The Off-Grid Solar Policy Toolkit: Supporting Inter-Ministerial Collaboration to Advance Energy Access, Digital Transformation, and Financial Inclusion
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-21) ESMAP; PPIAF; DDP
    This Off-Grid Solar (OGS) policy toolkit is designed to assist governments in creating an enabling environment for OGS and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) sector growth by establishing policy reforms determined through a structured process of inter-ministerial policy dialogue. It identifies twelve key policy issues and considers the advantages and disadvantages of different policy approaches to each issue. The toolkit then outlines a step-by-step process that governments can use to facilitate policy dialogue, providing guidance and tools at each step. This process envisions a scenario where government ministries and agencies work together to advance policy reforms that accelerate progress in energy access, digital inclusion, and financial inclusion. This document’s tools, methods, and ideas were field-tested through inter-ministerial policy dialogues in Ethiopia and Uganda. The two countries were selected for their contrasting policy environments for off-grid solar. The toolkit was instrumental in guiding inter-ministerial dialogue led by the ministry responsible for energy in both countries and supported by the firm that coordinated the toolkit’s development. In 2023, the two countries officially launched policy roadmaps created and validated by participating stakeholders.
  • Publication
    Scaling Hydrogen Financing for Development
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-02-28) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Global Infrastructure Facility; Hydrogen Council
    This report’s analysis provides detailed information on the global hydrogen market and the cost of producing hydrogen. It quantifies the gap between the costs of financing clean hydrogen projects and the benefits such a project can be expected to yield in the short term. The study explores measures to minimize the need for government financing by making hydrogen investments attractive to the private sector. Chiefly, those measures involve managing and mitigating risk. Major risk categories such as those related to offtake have been identified through an extensive survey. This study reviews best practices for accelerated clean hydrogen deployment in emerging markets and developing countries with an eye to key risks in all project stages. Different types of risk are analyzed and split into project-enabling factors and factors that must be managed to reduce the cost of capital. The potential of each type to reduce the cost of hydrogen is quantified. The report lays out how multilateral development banks and development finance institutions can help to accelerate and de-risk clean hydrogen projects. However, at this stage of the clean hydrogen industry’s development, financial de-risking is insufficient. Policies are necessary to de-risk investments and increase the volume and scale of projects coming on stream.
  • Publication
    Jobs for a Livable Planet: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-01-24) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    The global transition to clean energy must accelerate if global warming is to be limited to 1.5°C and the effects of climate change mitigated. For the energy sector, the transition involves replacing fossil fuels with clean sources of energy and electrifying traditionally unelectrified areas (such as transport, heating, and industrial processes) while working toward universal access to clean energy services. Disruptive changes in production and consumption in the economy will result from phasing out traditional fossil-fuel industries and promoting sustainable energy technologies. To bring evidence to bear on this issue, the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) implemented a program of analytical work from 2020 to 2023. Entitled “Estimating the Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition,” it assessed the job creation potential of the clean energy transition in low- and middle-income countries. In view of the limited applicability of the literature to the energy transition for developing economies and data constraints that preclude an ex post analysis, a computable general equilibrium model was developed to simulate, ex ante, the economywide employment impacts of clean energy interventions characterizing the energy transition in a sample of strategically important Sub-Saharan African countries. While modeling can indicate likely high-level outcomes, it sheds little light on the mechanisms by which clean energy projects create jobs, which is important for policy design. Modeling also abstracts from spatial, temporal, and skills frictions that arise in real labor markets. Therefore, to complement the modeling and understand how clean energy interventions create jobs in developing countries and also characterize the jobs created, detailed case studies of selected World Bank–supported clean energy projects were carried out, supplemented by deep dives into jobs created by productive use of electricity in mini grids and insights on the labor transition options for workers of coal-fired power plants. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations of this program of analytical work are presented in this report.
  • Publication
    Jobs Generated by the Rampur Hydropower Project in India: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition - Case Study
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-01-23) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    The Rampur Hydropower Project (RHP) generated direct, indirect, and induced employment opportunities, improved local infrastructure, and had economic impacts on the region. However, there were challenges, including limited women’s participation and issues with retaining unskilled workers after project completion. State requirements for local hiring were viewed as both beneficial for the local workforce but also as a potential barrier to staff mobility for future projects. This case study seeks to shed light on the employment impacts associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the 412 megawatt (MW) Rampur run-of-river hydroelectricity scheme as part of the RHP.
  • Publication
    Jobs Generated by the Nigeria Electrification Project: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition - Case Study
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-01-23) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    The Solar Hybrid Mini Grids for Rural Economic Development component of the Nigeria Electrification Project created direct and indirect employment opportunities across various skill levels in Nigeria. The project contributed to local economic growth, gender diversity, and the expansion of small businesses in newly electrified areas. This case study seeks to shed light on the employment outcomes associated with the World Bank’s investments in mini grids made as part of the NEP, which was approved in 2018 and is expected to close in 2023. Key findings from the case study are covered in this report.
  • Publication
    Jobs Generated by the Second Rural Electrification Project in Peru: Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition - Case Study
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-01-23) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    The Second Rural Electrification Project in Peru created direct jobs in rural electrification and promoted productive uses of electricity. While it had a positive impact on income and job quality, gender diversity in the workforce was limited, and the net effect on employment due to electrification was mixed, with some jobs being created and others displaced. Peru implemented broad energy sector reforms in the 1990s that aimed to establish private investors as the principal actors in the power sector and limit the role of the public sector to regulation and supervision. Following the reforms, power shortages and distribution losses declined and electricity tariffs stabilized. This case study seeks to shed light on the employment outcomes associated with the World Bank’s investments in rural electrification in Peru as part of the Second Rural Electrification Project (RE2), which was approved in April 2011 and closed in August 2017.