Renewable power capacity to achieve nearly 12 percent growth this year
Renewable performance is recovering on the market this year, with projected growth of nearly 12 percent, primarily driven by strong solar capacity growth.
A recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) noted that the gains as the fastest pace for renewable capacity additions since 2015. Solar photovoltaic (PV) is having an especially banner year, with an increase of over 17 percent. In all, this puts renewable capacity additions at nearly 200 gigawatts of energy.
“These latest numbers give us many reasons to celebrate: Renewable electricity additions are now growing at their fastest pace in four years after a disappointing 2018,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. “We are witnessing a drastic decline in the cost of solar power together with strong growth in onshore wind. And offshore wind is showing encouraging signs.”
This is a marked change from last year when renewable power capacity failed to build year over year. Experts blame that mainly on Chinese government policy changes, which they said shows that governmental policy changes can create strong market volatility.
The cost of solar PV has, however, plunged more than 80 percent since 2010, increasing its competitiveness. China remains the world’s largest market despite the recent changes, and the European Union is expanding into the market faster. Faster growth is currently also being seen in large nations like India and the United States. Onshore wind growth should also rise by 15 percent this year, to 53 GW throughout the world — its most substantial record increase since 2015. Offshore wind growth is expected to remain around 5 GW.
However, the growth rate is still far off the mark from where the IEA would like it to be. Such capacity additions need to grow by more than an average of 300 GW each year between 2018 and 2030 to achieve emissions and sustainability goals set under the international Paris Agreement.
“These technologies are the mainstays of the world’s efforts to tackle climate change, reduce air pollution and provide energy access to all,” Birol said.
