New report: Ending fossil fuel dependency to improve energy security

A total of 17 countries in South-East and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, plus Kosovo[2], saw an unprecedented growth in renewable power capacity between 2017[1] and 2021. Over this period, they cumulatively added 21 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, for a total installed renewable power capacity of 106 GW[3]. Released on September 14, the UNECE Renewable Energy Status Report 2022 was prepared jointly by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It provides the latest update on the status of renewables and energy efficiency in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Energy security at the forefront Despite breakthrough progress in renewables, these focus countries continue to depend heavily on fossil fuel sources and rely on a limited number of energy exporters, especially the Russian Federation. According to...