RETScreen

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RETScreen
Developer(s)Government of Canada | Multiple
Initial releaseApril 30, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-04-30)
Stable release
RETScreen Expert Version 9.0 / 29 September 2022; 2 years ago (2022-09-29)
Repository
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Engine
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    Operating systemWindows
    Size358 MB
    Available in37 languages
    List of languages
    Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Mongolian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese
    Websitewww.retscreen.net

    The RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software (usually shortened to RETScreen Expert) is a software package developed by the Government of Canada. RETScreen Expert was highlighted at the 2016 Clean Energy Ministerial held in San Francisco.<ref>"Canada, Mexico and the United States Show Progress on North American Energy Collaboration". News.gc.ca. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.</ref> The Government of Canada's Treasury Board Secretariat uses RETScreen Expert as its greenhouse gas reporting tool for all federal departments and agencies required to report emissions.<ref>"Government of Canada's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory". 19 October 2017.</ref>

    RETScreen Expert is the current version of the software and was released to the public on September 19, 2016. The software allows for the comprehensive identification, assessment and optimization of the technical and financial viability of potential renewable energy, energy efficiency and cogeneration projects; the measurement and verification of the actual performance of facilities; the identification of energy savings/production opportunities; and portfolio management of multiple facilities.<ref>"RETScreen eLearning". YouTube.</ref> "Viewer mode" in RETScreen Expert is free and permits access to significant functionality of the software. Unlike past versions of RETScreen, however, a new "Professional mode" (which allows users to save and print, as well as to access premium features) is now available on an annual subscription basis.

    Unlike the previous RETScreen Suite, RETScreen Expert is one integrated software platform; utilizes detailed and comprehensive archetypes for assessing projects; and includes portfolio analysis capability. RETScreen Expert integrates a number of databases to assist the user, including a global database of climatic conditions obtained from 6,700 ground-based stations and NASA satellite data; benchmark database; cost database; project database; hydrology database and product database.<ref>"NASA - NASA Collaboration Benefits International Priorities of Energy Management". Nasa.gov. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> The software contains extensive integrated training material, including an electronic textbook.<ref>"Clean Energy Project Analysis, RETScreen® Engineering & Cases Textbook: M154-13/2005E-PDF - Government of Canada Publications" (PDF). Publications.gc.ca. July 2002. Retrieved 24 February 2016.</ref>

    History

    The first version of RETScreen was released on April 30, 1998. RETScreen Version 4 was launched on December 11, 2007, at Bali, Indonesia by Canada's Minister of the Environment.<ref>"Archived - CANADA LAUNCHES CLEAN ENERGY SOFTWARE - Canada News Centre". News.gc.ca. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> RETScreen Plus was released in 2011.<ref>"RETScreen adds energy performance analysis module". REEEP.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> RETScreen Suite (integrating RETScreen 4 and RETScreen Plus with numerous additional upgrades), was released in 2012.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International Newsletter - 2012-06-05: Major Upgrade to RETScreen Software". 5 June 2012. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> RETScreen Expert was released to the public on September 19, 2016.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International Newsletter - Coming Soon: RETScreen Expert Software". 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> RETScreen Expert Version 8.1 was released on September 21, 2021.<ref>"RETScreen Version 8.1 Release".</ref>

    Program requirements

    This program requires Microsoft® Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10; and Microsoft® .NET Framework 4.7.2 or higher.<ref>"RETScreen, Natural Resources Canada". Nrcan.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> It is possible for the program to work on Apple computers using Parallels or VirtualBox for Mac.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - FAQ - Windows/Excel & other". 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref>

    Partners

    RETScreen is managed under the leadership and ongoing financial support of the CanmetENERGY Varennes Research Centre of Natural Resources Canada, a department of the Government of Canada. The core team<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International Core Team". Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> leverages collaboration with a number of other government and multilateral organisations, with technical support from a large network of experts from industry, government and academia.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International Network of experts". Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> Principal external partners include NASA's Langley Research Center,<ref>"NASA - POWER". Nasa.gov. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO),<ref>"IESO". IESO.ca. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP),<ref>"Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)". REEP.org. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> UNEP's Energy Unit of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics,<ref>"About DTIE". Uneptie.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> the Global Environment Facility (GEF),<ref>"Global Environment Facility". Thegef.org. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> the World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund,<ref>"Carbon Finance at the World Bank: Prototype Carbon Fund". Wbcarbonfinance.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref> and York University's Sustainable Energy Initiative.<ref>"Sustainable Energy Initiative". Yorku.ca. Retrieved 13 February 2018.</ref>

    Examples of use

    As of August 2021, the RETScreen software had more than 750,000 users in every country and territory of the world.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - RETScreen Software: Cumulative Growth of User Base". Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref>

    An independent impact study <ref name=report1>"Archived - RETScreen International: Results & impacts 1996-2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> estimated that by 2013, the use of the RETScreen software had been responsible, worldwide, for over $8 billion in user transaction cost savings, 20 MT per year of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and has enabled at least 24 GW of installed clean energy capacity.

    RETScreen is widely used to facilitate and implement clean energy projects. For example, RETScreen has been used:

    An extensive collection of posts and articles detailing how RETScreen has been used in different contexts is available on RETScreen's LinkedIn page and archived website.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International Newsletter". 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref>

    RETScreen is also used as a teaching and research tool by well-over 1,400 universities and colleges worldwide, and is frequently cited in academic literature.<ref>For example, a Google Scholar search for RETScreen on 7 February 2018 yielded over 5,500 results.</ref> Examples of RETScreen's use in academia can be found under the “Publications and Reports” and "University and College Courses" sections of the RETScreen newsletter, accessible through the User manual in the downloaded software.

    The use of RETScreen is mandated or recommended by clean energy incentive programs at all levels of government worldwide, including the UNFCCC and the EU; Canada, New Zealand and the UK; numerous American states and Canadian provinces; cities and municipalities; and utilities.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - Clean Energy Policy Toolkit". 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> National and regional RETScreen training workshops have been conducted upon the official request of the Governments of Chile,<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - CER Chile Implements RETScreen Training Program". 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> Saudi Arabia,<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - Saudi Arabia Builds Clean Energy Capacity". 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> 15 countries in West and Central Africa,<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - Strengthening the Foundations of Clean Energy in West Africa". 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> and the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).


    Awards and recognition

    In 2010, RETScreen International was awarded the Public Service Award of Excellence,<ref>"Public Service Award of Excellence 2010" (PDF). Ottawacitizen.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> the highest award given by the Canadian government to its civil servants.

    RETScreen and the RETScreen team have been nominated for and received numerous other prestigious awards including the Ernst & Young/Euromoney Global Renewable Energy Award, Energy Globe (National Award for Canada), and the GTEC Distinction Award Medal.<ref>"Archived - RETScreen International - Awards". 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref>

    Reviews

    An International Energy Agency review of the beta release of the hydropower part of the software described it as "very impressive".<ref>"Assessment Methods for Small-hydro Projects" (PDF). Ieahydro.org. Retrieved 24 October 2016.</ref> The European Environment Agency asserts that RETScreen an "extremely useful tool."<ref>"RETScreen Clean Energy Project Analysis Software | Environmental software tools for accounting, carbon footprinting & sustainability performance". Environmenttools.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2016.</ref> RETScreen has also been called "one of the few software tools, and by far the best, available for evaluating the economics of renewable energy installations"<ref name=report1/> and "a tool to enhance... market coherence" in clean energy worldwide.<ref name=report1/>

    See also

    References

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    External links

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