IAEA Presents Sustainable Energy Planning Toolkit to G20 for Enhanced Long-Term Energy Strategies

The release of the toolkit aligns with the G20 Brazilian Presidency's efforts to foster broader international cooperation in energy planning.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has introduced a sustainable energy planning toolkit to the G20, as part of its contributions under the invitation of the Brazilian Presidency. The new document details the modeling tools and capacity-building support the IAEA offers to countries aiming to enhance their long-term energy planning strategies, covering both nuclear and non-nuclear energy sources.

The release of the toolkit aligns with the G20 Brazilian Presidency's efforts to foster broader international cooperation in energy planning. Achieving decarbonization of the energy, transportation, and industrial sectors by 2050 poses a significant challenge that will require substantial use of nuclear power. However, regardless of whether nuclear power is part of a country's future energy mix, rigorous planning is essential to determine the optimal clean energy composition based on country-specific factors.

The publication, titled "From Knowledge to Action: IAEA Toolkit for Sustainable Energy Planning," was presented during a side event at the G20's Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

"Energy planning is crucial for reducing the investment gap for the clean energy transition because it provides transparency in the decision-making process, making it one of the most powerful tools in de-risking investment,” said Thiago Barral, Secretary of Energy Transition and Planning in Brazil's Ministry of Energy and Mines.

The event emphasized the vital role of comprehensive energy planning in shaping well-informed investment plans for the clean energy transition.

“Countries across Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced fiscal limitations and there is a need to attract technical and financial resources and other support to continue advancing the energy transition,” said Carlos Jose Echeverria Barbero, Regional Lead Energy Specialist from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“Building better energy infrastructure requires strengthening key pillars like financing, technology, and skills. It also needs supportive policies and regional collaboration,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “Planning is key when it comes to providing more energy and more low carbon energy around the world. The IAEA assists its Member States with their energy planning, whether they plan to include nuclear or not.”

The toolkit outlines how the IAEA can enhance national and regional capacities for energy system analysis and planning in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). This includes capacity-building activities such as expert missions, training sessions, and providing energy planning tools. These initiatives aim to bolster knowledge and strengthen skills that many EMDEs currently lack, enabling informed decision-making and policy development.

Over the past 40 years, the IAEA has extended these services to more than 140 countries, collaborating with international, regional, and national institutions, as well as academia, to develop local expertise for sustainable energy development.

The toolkit also highlights successful applications of its methodologies through case studies, demonstrating the positive impact of integrated energy planning on national policies and sustainable development goals.

The side event was organized by the IAEA, with support from the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, and in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the IDB, and the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).

During the event, the IEA introduced the concept for the “G20 Clean Energy Investment Roadmap for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies,” which is currently under planning. This roadmap will outline solutions for key stakeholders to increase clean energy investments in emerging markets and developing economies sixfold by 2035. With inputs from the IAEA, IRENA, OPEC, development banks, and other key organizations and experts, the roadmap will map clean energy investment and finance flows and identify de-risking solutions and innovative financing instruments to unlock capital at scale.