Countries that are successfully transitioning their energy systems rely on long-term planning. Supported by such planning, accelerating energy transition requires a sound and enabling regulatory policy framework. As the costs of electricity generation from renewables have become more cost competitive, countries have turned to market-based mechanisms over support schemes like feed-in tariffs. One such mechanism is renewable energy auctions, which are now commonly applied in many countries. Besides auctions that typically address utility-scale systems, a successful deployment of distributed generation from small-scale systems such as solar PV requires well-designed tariff structures and related policies.
Policy instruments evolve over time as countries learn from their implementation. In addition, countries can learn from best practices and trends in policy design elsewhere. This requires the evaluation of costs, benefits and effectiveness of policies and understand how policies can be adapted to the rapidly changing conditions of the energy markets and integrated to overall energy planning.