CIREG

Climate Information to support integrated Renewable Electricity Generation

ERA4CSClimate services

The results from the CIREG project are being communicated to West African policymakers
and other stakeholders through various channels, e.g. training schools, workshops and
conferences. They may feed into electricity sector planning and target-setting in energy
policy. The focus on renewable electricity sources and knowledge exchange ensure that
the results contribute to reaching the objectives of the Paris Agreement while enhancing
sustainable development in terms of climate-proofing and increasing electricity access and
safeguarding ecological integrity.

CIREG is supporting several renewables-based off-grid projectsin West Africa, such as solar PV systems for water pumping.
CIREG scientists are actively involved in knowledge exchangebetween European and West African institutions, funding training schools and organising capacity building workshops.
CIREG scientists have performed a unique complete assessmentof the combined potential of on-grid solar power, wind power and adequately managed hydropower from hourly to decadal scales in West Africa.

Project leader

Sebastian Sterl

Researcher Climate Services for Renewable Energy Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering

My name is Sebastian Sterl and I am an applied physicist by training. I have been working for the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) since 2018, after having been active for several years in international energy and climate policy consulting. The work for CIREG combines my professional interests in a single package: climate change, renewable energy, power systems, sustainable development, and energy/climate
policy.

Project consortium

Technical University of Denmark
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Stockholm Environment Institute
Smart Hydro Power GmbH
University of Bonn
West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use

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The consortium consists of climate scientists, physicists, hydrologists, economists and sociologists from Europe and West Africa. PIK – Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany) leads the project, and models water resources and hydropower via a NEXUS approach. WASCAL – West African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use is in charge of the science-policy interface and stakeholder engagement, climate modelling, technical field work, and social media. The VUB – Free University of
Brussels (Belgium) works on the energy meteorology, power mix modelling and hydrological modelling. SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute (Sweden) works on the science-policy interface, and leads the organisation the training schools. DTU, the Technical
University of Denmark, performs socio-economic modelling and is in charge of setting up an SDG framework. ZEF – Center for Development Research from the University of Bonn (Germany), is in charge of socio-economic field research. Stakeholders involved in the project and/or using its products include West African power utilities, (e.g. SONABEL, NIGELEC), river basin authorities (Volta Basin Authority, Niger Basin Authority), and policymaking bodies (e.g. Burkina Faso’s Energy Ministry, Ghana’s Energy Commission).

Documents

Brochure
ERA4CS Report on the retrospective evaluation of the call procedures

News & Events

Event
17 May 2021

Second meeting of the Working Group of experts on White Paper JPI Cultural Heritage/JPI Climate

University of Wageningen, The Netherlands

ERA4CS

European Research Area for Climate Services

ERA-NET Cofund for Climate Services - This ERA-NET Consortium has been designed to boost the development of efficient Climate Services in Europe, by supporting research for developing better tools, methods and standards on how to produce, transfer, communicate and use reliable climate information to cope with current and future climate variability.

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countries

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partners

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projects