Free software program to prompt 24 GW of renewable energy
MONTREAL, Quebec, CA, April 20, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)
A free software program has resulted in the deployment of 1 GW of renewable energy capacity around the world in its first six years of availability, and will promote the installation of 24 GW by 2012, according to a report released by the government of Canada.
The RETScreen pre-feasibility assessment software has saved stakeholders in
Canada an estimated C$240 million and another $600 million around the world
through the use of the software and related tools, estimates SGA Energy in an
assessment of the impacts of RETScreen for Natural Resources Canada. From 1998
to 2012, user savings will be $1.8 billion in Canada and $7.9 billion around the
world.
The installed capacity in Canada during the past six years is 320 MW and 1,000
MW around the world, which will increase to 4.9 and 24 GW (respectively) by
2012. The installed value of $750 million in Canada and $1,800 million
elsewhere, will grow to $10 billion and $41 billion by 2012.
In terms of GHG displacement, the total to date in Canada has been 130 kilotonne
of CO2 per year and 630 kT around the world, which will grow to 3.6 and 20 MT
(respectively) within the forecast period.
Since 1996, RETScreen software has been downloaded by 40,908 people in 196
countries, with 200 new users every week. Canada has the most users with 13,232,
followed by the U.S. with 5,832, France with 3,557, Britain with 1,653 and Spain
with 1,381.
In addition to the federal energy department, a number of other Canadian
departments are partners, and internationally, the United Nations Environment
Programme, Global Environment Facility (GEF), National Aeronautics & Space
Administration (NASA) and the World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund are involved.
Since 1996, the total investment in RETScreen and related activities is
estimated at $5.8 million.
RETScreen software is used to evaluate industrial, commercial, institutional,
community, residential and utility applications for eight technologies: wind,
small hydro, PV, biomass heating, solar air heating, solar water heating,
passive solar and ground-source heat pumps. Additional modules are being
developed for cogeneration and refrigeration. The program helped a team of
consultants prepare studies for 56 potential renewable energy projects in remote
communities in Canada, at a cost of $2,000 each, the report notes. Similar
studies would have cost ten times more, it adds.
The average reported annual savings from using RETScreen was $34,257 per user
for project implementers and $7,872 per facilitator, according to a survey. A
total of 616 projects used RETScreen to facilitate implementation, with a
cumulative installed capacity of 1,150 MW.
“The use of RETScreen significantly reduces the cost and increases the
precision of pre-feasibility studies and contributes to the formulation of more
fully informed decisions prior to project implementation,” it concludes.
“Under a continued funding scenario from 2004 through 2012, SGA estimates that
the RETScreen software will have a substantial influence on the global clean
energy industry and an exponential rise in the impacts of RETScreen
International can be expected.”
http://www.retscreen.net/fichier.php/198/RETScreen_Impact.pdf
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