Natural Elements, NRCan's Monthly Newsletter

RETScreen Creator Views ‘Green Oscars’ Nomination as a Global Breakthrough

RETScreen's Clean Energy Project Analysis Software

Greg Leng, Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Director of RETScreen International is thrilled by the recognition his project has received from the international financial community.  While he finished in second place, Greg says he’s delighted at having been one of three finalists for the Leadership Award at the recent Euromoney and Ernst & Young Global Renewable Energy Awards in London, England.

Global renewable energy

These awards, dubbed the “Green Oscars”, recognize projects, companies, and individuals that have made a significant contribution to the global renewable energy sector.

“Our RETScreen Clean Energy Project Analysis Software is used by the financial, engineering, and architectural communities to help them decide the viability of a proposed clean energy project,” says Greg. “So this is a breakthrough. It’s not just us telling the world we have a great product but also the international financial community saying: ‘Hey, we think this is outstanding.’

Greg points out that the companies in the London audience of about 400 were among the world’s major investors. “If they weren’t using the tool already, they’re now aware of it and will use it to assess their investments in clean energy.”

Renewable Energy Finance Forum

The awards were part of the Renewable Energy Finance Forum, one of a series of events in different countries that bring together investors, executives and financiers with representatives from renewable energy and clean technology sectors.

RETScreen is a unique decision-support tool developed at Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) CanmetENERGY Varennes Research Centre with the contribution of numerous experts from government, industry, and academia.

Originally created as Greg’s Master’s Thesis at the University of Massachusetts, the software, provided as a free download, can be used worldwide to evaluate the energy production and savings, costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for various types of Renewable-energy and Energy-efficient Technologies (RETs).

Available in many languages

The software, available in multiple languages, also includes product, project, hydrology and climate databases, a detailed user manual, and a case-study-based college/university-level training course – including an engineering e-textbook.

There are now more than 215,000 RETScreen users in 222 countries and territories – growing by 1,000 new users weekly. Over 200 colleges and universities worldwide use the tool for training and research. RETScreen has been directly responsible for more than $4 billion in user savings globally – a number expected to grow to well over $8 billion by 2012.

The project team is now working on Version Five, which will add a Monitoring, Targeting and Verification tool to the package. This update is being developed through third-round funding from The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

Sharing the credit

Greg is quick to share the credit for the worldwide recognition that RETScreen is enjoying. “A key part of the success has come from the support of my supervisor, Dr. Gilles Jean,” he says. “And obviously none of this would have happened if there weren’t excellent people working with me. It was a Leadership Award, but you can’t lead if you don’t have a good team backing you up.”

New Recognition

Greg’s team continues to get recognized for its achievements. This month, Greg picked up the “Leadership in Green Procurement Award” from Summit– Canada’s magazine on public sector purchasing – presented in cooperation with the Environmental Choice Program and in collaboration with the Canadian Public Procurement Council.

To download RETScreen 4, go to the website: http://www.retscreen.net/.