# Case Studies

Using a People-positive Approach to Accelerate the Scale-up of Clean Power: A C-Suite Guide for Community Engagement

[Read the Report](https://www.weforum.org/publications/using-a-people-positive-approach-to-accelerate-the-scale-up-of-clean-power-a-c-suite-guide-for-community-engagement/)


## How ReNew is upskilling women in rural India for the energy transition

The Little Rann of Kutch is a desert located in the state of Gujarat in India. During the six-month salt-farming season, over 17,000 salt farmers, mostly women, endure extreme temperatures to earn about $120 a year by farming and selling salt. In June 2022, independent power producer ReNew launched Project Surya in collaboration with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India, to propel female salt farmers into India’s clean energy transition.Through a mix of classroom and on-field training, women are trained as solar panel technicians through a course covering topics ranging from the basics of electricity and solar energy to digital skills and finance. These women can be employed in upcoming solar facilities in Gujarat, such as India’s largest solar park. Employment can increase one woman’s earnings to $1,200 per year, improving the quality of life for many families and growing the local economy.


## How local conservation groups' insights helped shape Lightsource bp's project

During the planning stages of Lightsource bp’s Mokoan solar project in Australia, the company invited local community and conservation groups for consultations. The local Regent Honeyeater Conservation Group informed Lightsource bp of their ongoing work to improve habitat connectivity for regent honeyeaters (a native bird species that is listed as critically endangered at the state and federal levels and is on the IUCN Red List).The group expressed concern about the potential impact of the solar project on their work and highlighted that the development site had the potential to connect existing areas of habitat. Therefore, Lightsource bp amended the project layout to provide a wildlife corridor through the site. It designed habitat creation plans for the corridor in consultation with the group, selecting specific forage species to support the native fauna and ensure habitat connectivity. This example highlights the role local knowledge can play in shaping project development plans. Reagent Honeymaker


## How Enel's early community engagement was key for delivering social value

The rapid development of solar projects is impacting numerous communities in Spain, with 26 solar parks constructed by Enel alone across 22 municipalities since 2019. Through community engagement, Enel has identified local employment as an opportunity to create shared value.In collaboration with local governments and NGOs, Enel has created employment committees to establish a transparent process to prioritize employing local labour and using local services during construction. In addition, training programmes for non-specialized workers guarantee that the entire nontechnical labour need for the projects is met locally.

Since 2019, Enel has trained more than 1,526 people living near the solar parks and will train an additional 5,000 in the next three years. It is using the same approach in Italy and other countries where it operates.


## How Iberdrola's Convive programme contributes to local development

Iberdrola’s Convive programme20 has three main action areas: Contributing to socio-economic development Protecting and enhancing biodiversityImproving the impact of renewables and the social acceptance of the energy transition through third-party partnerships.The programme has delivered a range of outcomes. For example, it set up a solar energy community, Pueblo Solar Cedillo, in connection with the development of a utility-scale solar PV plant in Cedillo, Spain. The community is open to the local population of around 450 people as well as businesses. Participants can obtain up to 50% savings on their electricity bills while decarbonizing their consumption.


## How SSE embeds just transition into its overall business strategy

SSE’s just transition strategy aligns business and net zero goals. It outlines 20 principles to promote a fair and just transition for workers, consumers and communities while transitioning from high-carbon activities to a net zero world. Of these, four principles focus on supporting communities during the transition: Provide robust stakeholder consultationForm partnerships across sectorsPromote further industrial developmentRespect and record cultural heritage.

As an example of the first principle, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution, part of the SSE group, created an independent customer engagement group to help embed consumer and stakeholder views into its business plan and offer a robust challenge to proposals. The group will continue advising SSEN Distribution as an independent panel, providing rigorous scrutiny to ensure every consumer is considered and accounted for.


## How TP Renewable Microgrid is providing clean electricity to rural India

TP Renewable Microgrid, a whole-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, uses a shared value creation approach for community engagement. This creates an ecosystem enabling local communities to use the benefits of microgrids for overall socio-economic development, amplifying India’s efforts to provide reliable and clean power to rural communities currently dependent on fossil-based power. Through the programme, company representatives engage with social influencers, governments, local communities, village-level entrepreneurs, farmers and civil society groups to understand their needs. Solutions are designed in collaboration with technology innovators, skill development partners, philanthropic organizations, financial institutions and other stakeholders to meet local communities’ needs. This enables TP Renewable Microgrid to create a win-win situation: it can launch numerous initiatives to provide economic, environmental and social benefits to local communities, while ensuring that projects are smoothly installed, commissioned, operated and maintained.TP Renewable Microgrid has commissioned renewable microgrids in 200 villages in northwest India with a consumer base of around 21,000. The microgrids save more than 3 million liters of diesel and reduce more than 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually while also impacting nearly 300,000 lives.