November 19 @ 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Africa Pavilion, Blue Zone
Lead Partner: UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa)
Contributing partner: Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) Programme
The Energy Modelling Platform for Africa (EMP-A), now in its fifth round since starting in 2018, plays a vital role in building capacity across Africa for energy planning and long-term investment. EMP-A is designed to equip professionals with the tools needed to develop energy models that support national planning, aligning with global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and Africa’s Agenda 2063. A key component of EMP-A is the “train the trainers” approach, which ensures that participants not only gain expertise but also acquire the skills to teach others, fostering sustainable and scalable capacity-building across the continent.
Furthermore, EMP-A is linked with the Flatpack initiative, which spreads the benefits of capacity-building into the next generation. By partnering with local universities, EMP-A and CCG materials are institutionally embedded, creating a sustainable long-term capacity-building ecosystem in each participating country. This includes the design and implementation of graduate courses, supporting the professional development of academics, and providing scholarships to students, thereby ensuring a continuous transfer of knowledge and skills.
Long-term strategic energy planning is a complex task, particularly for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like those in Africa. These nations face a range of competing priorities, such as energy reliability, economic growth, and social development, all while striving to decarbonize energy systems. Capacity development in energy modelling helps to empower national governments, allowing them to independently plan and coordinate long-term energy investments that reflect local realities and build local ownership (MDPI).
One of the critical tools professionals can learn through EMP-A is the CLEWs (Climate, Land, Energy, and Water systems) framework, which is essential for understanding and managing the interdependencies between these systems. This tool is especially important in the context of Africa’s food and water security, making it highly relevant to the thematic focus of COP29 on November 19.
The event will also showcase the Energy Modelling Community for Africa (EMC), a recently launched network of professionals who have completed training through the Energy Modelling Platform for Africa (EMP-A). EMC fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill enhancement among EMP alumni. In addition to providing a platform for ongoing engagement, EMC serves as a vehicle for maintaining and upgrading skills in energy modelling. Plans to introduce badges will further incentivise skills improvement and recognise alumni achievements.
Through the EMC, several alumni have contributed to special issues of academic journals and published papers that focus on using open-source modelling tools like CLEWs and OSeMOSYS to address Africa’s unique energy challenges. These publications cover key topics such as renewable energy integration, climate resilience, and long-term energy investment strategies. By highlighting these outputs, the event will demonstrate how the capacity-building efforts of EMP-A are translating into actionable, high-impact research and solutions.
The event will specifically focus on the role of women in energy modelling, showcasing their contributions within the EMC and beyond. Female alumni of EMP-A have been pivotal in advancing energy planning efforts and driving critical research initiatives. Highlighting their achievements not only reinforces the importance of gender inclusivity in technical fields like energy modelling but also aligns with broader goals of empowering women in leadership roles across Africa’s energy transition.
This event aligns with the Food, Agriculture, and Water thematic day (November 19) by linking the CLEWs framework to sustainable solutions for Africa’s food and water systems through energy modelling and long-term investment strategies.