Mapping solar energy access in Yemen

The meeting commenced with welcoming remarks from ESCWA, followed by a brief introduction of the IMSE project, which aims to support countries in mapping renewable energy applications to inform decision-making and policy development. The project includes virtual coordination meetings, regional training workshops, and stocktaking exercises. The key points discussed were: 

• ESCWA outlined the project’s objectives:
  • Assess technical and GIS capabilities for renewable energy monitoring.
  • Evaluate policy knowledge and data-informed decision-making.
  • Understand human capital capacity for strategic RE mapping.
  • Build institutional capacity to support SDG7, with a focus on solar energy.
  • Support data gathering for a Yemen-specific case study.
• Yemen noted:
  • The GIS unit at the Ministry of Energy and Electricity (MoEE) currently maps all electricity infrastructure and large-scale solar PV systems that are connected to the high and medium voltage networks.
  • MoEE’s control and coverage area is the south of Yemen where Aden is the main city. Other areas of the country are under the control of another government in Yemen, and their data is not currently accessible by MoEE.
  • The number of decentralized and privately-owned solar PV systems continue to rapidly increase, especially in Aden, due to the increasing need and high energy costs, but they are not being recorded or mapped.
  • Small rooftop systems are largely undocumented.
  • Not all donors coordinate with MoEE upon the implementation of solar PV systems. Even when they do, it is done at the planning stage, but coordination stops upon and after implementation.
  • Awareness of solar energy systems is improving.
  • Citizens are increasingly purchasing larger and more efficient solar PV panels.
  • Small systems are often underutilized due to poor design and lack of awareness. Some of them are just being utilized as shading devices, and not for generating electricity.
• ESCWA’s Geo-Insights team presented analysis work done in Aden, Yemen based on open-source satellite imagery which was able to detect several large-scale solar farms. A comparative analysis could be done on imported solar panels from UN trade data and IRENA reported installed renewable energy capacity to further conduct a gap analysis. The analysis work done and presented by ESCWA was discussed by the MoEE representatives and they were able to identify most of the solar systems detected by the ESCWA team.