Bilateral Partnerships
NREL partners with more than 50 countries around the world to advance development and use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies:
Asia
Bangladesh
Under sponsorship from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NREL provides technical support for mapping the wind resource in the Bay of Bengal littoral zone in order to provide sufficiently accurate information for national-level strategic energy planning.
China
NREL manages renewable energy cooperation with China under the U.S.-China Renewable Energy Partnership program. This program was initiated in 2009 after visits by President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu, and it is formalized by a memorandum of cooperation. Cooperation includes policy analysis, wind and solar joint research and development (R&D), technical exchanges on grid integration, and standards/testing/certification. NREL and China also conduct joint biofuel chemical conversion R&D and sustainability topics under the U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation for Biofuels Development initiated in 2007. NREL also supports the Chinese organizers who are conducting the Solar Decathlon China a collegiate competition in building energy efficiency.
India
NREL teams with partners in India on biofuels, solar, wind, and building efficiency projects. This includes solar and wind resource and policy assessment, studies of high-penetration renewable energy, joint work on wind turbine testing and assessment, biofuel technology advancement, and energy-efficient building design in India's commercial sector. NREL also supports the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in developing a database of clean energy policies. Additional Information: India Solar Resource Maps
Indonesia
In support of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Compact with the Indonesian government, NREL is working to identify renewable energy investment opportunities in selected Indonesian provinces. The objective is to alleviate poverty by enabling local economic development. NREL also supports activities related to USAID's Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) program, aiming to strengthen Indonesian capacity in order to design and implement low carbon development strategies.
Japan
NREL works with wide-ranging Japanese institutions on technologies to advance concentrating solar power and is collaborating on activities related to vehicles and hydrogen fuel, climate technology centers, policy best practices, field-testing of manufacturers' modular systems, bio-molecular design software, fuel cell membranes, solar resource modeling, biofuels adoption, platinum catalyst formulation, grid integration, and biofuels emissions controls development.
Kazakhstan
NREL works with institutional and private sector representatives from energy and policy sectors in Kazakhstan and is providing interactive sessions on energy technology, energy- investment financing, policy development, renewable energy resource assessment, integration of diverse energy sources, systems modeling, and business models for energy services.
Korea
NREL works with partners in Korea on activities including photovoltaic research; coordination of the ISGAN; the Korean Registry of Shipping in pursuit of offshore wind technology development; and technology for electro-deposited, copper- indium-gallium-selenide solar cells.
Philippines
Under USAID's EC-LEDS program, NREL provides technical support to the Government of the Philippines' Climate Change Commission and relevant technical agencies to advance their climate change and development initiatives. NREL assistance with the Philippines focuses on transportation and alternative fuel analysis; renewable energy resource assessment and visualization; and, technical and policy barriers to integrating renewables on the national grid. Additional Information: Philippines Wind Resource Maps and Data
Vietnam
Under USAID's EC-LEDS program, NREL is cooperating with lead ministries in the Government of Vietnam on renewable energy resource assessment, visualization, and related analysis as well as tools to assess the development benefits of alternative low emission and climate resilient strategies.
Africa
Angola
NREL supported a wind mapping analysis in Algeria and is now exploring opportunities to provide a wind resource data collection and analysis training in partnership with the Government of Angola.
Gabon
Under USAID's EC-LEDS program, NREL plans to work with the Government of Gabon to support technical assistance in conducting carbon footprint and sustainable return on investment (SROI) analyses of energy efficiency, infrastructure and economic development projects, and cross-sectoral analysis to understand the emissions impacts of various pathways to economic growth.
Kenya
Under USAID's EC-LEDS program, NREL will work with the Government of Kenya to provide support for the development of a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Master Plan, design incentives and policies that encourage the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, and conduct assessments of Kenya's ability to expand the integration of renewable energy generation. Under EC-LEDS, NREL is also supporting pilot efforts to overcome barriers to private capital flow and mobilize private investment to implement low emission development priorities in Kenya.
Central America and the Caribbean
Caribbean Region
In partnership with the Organization of American States and other multinational organizations, NREL supports capacity building and project development efforts in the Caribbean.
Costa Rica
NREL supports development of a regional energy efficiency center in Costa Rica. The center will be located at the University of Costa Rica and will work in cooperation with many other government agencies to expand local knowledge on energy efficiency topics and provide training and other services.
Haiti
In partnership with USAID and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), NREL is assisting the Government of Haiti with waste-to-energy and wind resource assessment projects to support reconstruction activities.
North America
Canada
NREL works with partners in Canada on clean energy projects, including producing biofuels from large-scale cultivation of microalgae and thermochemical conversion of beetle-killed pine. NREL and Canada are also working to represent better the electrical interface between the two countries in models used for policy analysis.
Mexico
NREL supports implementation of a bilateral agreement between the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Secretaría de Energía of Mexico for the improved use of modern wind energy mapping and modeling methods as well as design and testing of advanced wind turbines. NREL supports implementation of the EC-LEDS work agreement between the U.S. government and the Government of Mexico through work with the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia (INE) to increase capacity to update and modify current abatement cost models and to develop Mexico-specific data on abatement options; help advance economic modeling capacity; and develop INE's capacity to plan LEDS implementation.
South America
Argentina
NREL collaborates with Argentina on training on performance contracting and ESCO market development and on wind resource assessment.
Brazil
NREL works with partners in Brazil on wind and biofuels assessment, including sustainability, R&D, analysis of renewable energy for rural electrification, and silicon solar cell research.
Chile
NREL assisted the Chilean Renewable Energy Center with developing a concentrating solar power solicitation, green disaster relief efforts, renewable energy working groups, a Latin American gateway in Spanish on openei.org, Chile's innovation investment program, and training on analysis tools.
Colombia
Through USAID's EC-LEDS program and in partnership with other U.S. government agencies and the Government of Colombia, NREL provides staff and training support to build low carbon development capacity in the Colombian Ministries of Environment; Mines and Energy; Transport; Commerce, Industry and Tourism; Finance and Public Credit; and Agriculture.
Europe
NREL collaborates with many countries in Europe on research and development, energy analysis, biofuels, buildings, electricity storage, grid integration, and on hydrogen, ocean, solar, wind, and vehicle transportation technologies. This includes partnerships with technical institutes in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as well as the European Commission.
Middle East
Saudi Arabia
NREL has provided assistance to the new Saudi energy agency King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) in determining the renewable energy research agenda for Saudi Arabia. In addition, with funding from DOE, NREL has provided technology and policy training, and has provided training for designers, at energy efficiency workshops held with the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC).
United Arab Emirates
Through its relationship with the United Nations Environment Programme, NREL supports development of wind and solar resource maps and related geospatial analytic tools for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). NREL also works with the UAE's Masdar City project to test new dust mitigation coatings for photovoltaics and concentrating solar power.
Oceania
Australia
NREL collaborates with the Australian Solar Institute and various research organizations in Australia on joint solar resource assessment, photovoltaics, and concentrating solar power projects. In addition, Australia's Department of Industry supports NREL's work on the Clean Energy Solutions Center.
U.S. Pacific Territories
NREL works with the U.S. Department of Interior to support the islands of Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas Islands in their efforts to deploy energy efficiency and renewable energy.
