Tracking Clean Energy Innovation Policies

This energy technology innovation policy guide supports decision-makers and analysts to identify examples of policies that could be translated to new country contexts and provide a basis for international exchange and co-operation. Effective policy support is centrally important to innovators that can improve the performance and lower the costs of clean energy technologies and services, thereby enabling energy transitions and creating economic opportunities.

In recognition of the importance of clean energy technologies, governments are expanding the variety of innovation policy measures and tuning their design to the specificities and maturities of the technologies. The characteristics of clean energy technologies – especially those related to hardware rather than software – mean that they can have relatively long development timelines and require large upfront investments. The range of policies in place or in development now includes not just R&D grants, but also tax incentives, inducement prizes, business equity, loans, loan guarantees, incubation services, knowledge networks, cross-border cooperation and access to laboratories. This guide provides a structure for organising and exploring policy diversity.

Advanced economies have the largest numbers of such policies but emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are also integral to achieving this transition as they enlarge their economies and energy supplies to meet developmental aspirations. Governments and other stakeholders who are interested in how to catalyse clean energy innovation in EMDEs are a key audience for this guide. Many of these countries do not possess a strong legacy of institutional and funding support to energy technology innovation and can benefit from a resource that summarises different policy design options and where they have been tested.