Renewables will lead global electricity generation growth

 About 85% of additional electricity demand through 2026 is set to come from developing economies, with China contributing substantially even as the country’s economy undergoes structural changes. 

Solar and Wind Power Experienced Impressive Cost Reduction between 2010 and 2022

The global weighted-average Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of newly commissioned utility-scale solar PV projects declined from USD  0.445/kWh to USD 0.049/kWh between 2010 and 2022 – a decrease of 89%. 

At the same time the cost of electricity generated by power plants burning fossil fuels stayed in the range USD  0.080/kWh to USD 0.240/kWh. 

 

Source: IRENA, 2022

More than 80% of global new electricity capacity added last year were renewables

Over 260 GW of renewable energy capacity were added last year worldwide, exceeding expansion in 2019 by close to 50%, despite the economic slowdown that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. Renewables account for 80% of all new electricity capacity added last year, with solar and wind representing 91% of new renewables, according to the recent report by IRENA.

The 10.3% rise in installed renewable capacity reflects expansion that beats long-term trends of more modest growth year-on-year.

Costs comparison of electricity generated by renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels - solar and wind are the cheapest

Source: LAZARD’S LEVELIZED COST OF ENERGY ANALYSIS, VERSION 13.0. November 2019.

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Corporate sourcing of renewable electricity is seen in more than 75 countries

IRENA reviewed over 2 400 companies, identifying drivers, achievements and barriers, and providing recommendations to strengthen the momentum in corporate sourcing of renewables. Agency's report show that companies  consumed about 465 terawatt-hours (TWh) of renewable electricity in 2017.
About 200 companies reported that more than half of the electricity they consumed was sourced from renewables; 50 companies reported a share of 100%. 

Renewable energy is now the cheapest source of power generation in some countries

Breakdown of utility-scale solar PV total installed costs in G20 countries, 2018

         Source: IRENA, 2019

Released just before UNFCCC's COP25 IRENA's report reveals the latest cost trends for each of the main renewable power generation technologies.

Renewable energy needs to be scaled up at least six times faster

In recently published report Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050, IRENA states that renewable energy needs to be scaled up at least six times faster for the world to meet the decarbonisation and climate mitigation goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
While different paths can mitigate climate change, renewables and energy efficiency provide the optimal pathway to deliver most of the emission cuts needed at the necessary speed.

Next oil boom: biofuels?

Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia strongly believe that oil in the leaves and stems of plants as well as the seeds may become a game changer in the global production of renewable oils.

Canadian Biogas Association (CBA) provides tools and training for biogas project developers

The Canadian Biogas Association recently hosted two Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Workshops for municipalities as part of a series of targeted communications for municipal and public sector staff to learn more about this important renewable fuel. Participants of the first workshop have learn about RNG technologies, tools for measuring GHG emission reductions, such as GHGenius, and a number of RNG projects that have been implemented by municipalities across Canada.

IEA's webinar: The Outlook for Renewable Energy

The lead authors of World Energy Outlook 2016 presented their views on current status and future of renewables, which were the subject of a special focus in this year’s Outlook.
Significant increase of renewable capacity in the power sector, which exceeded coal, gas, oil. and nuclear combined, as well as fast growth of EVs on the road to over 1 million vehicles are among the most impressive achievements in renewable energy in 2015.

China will spend on renewable energy over third of trillion dollars by 2020

China's National Energy Administration proposed plan to spend more than $360 billion through 2020 on renewable power sources like solar and wind. This will allow to create more than 13 million new jobs in the renewable energy sector, curb the growth of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming and reduce the amount of soot that creates strong smog in Beijing and other Chinese cities.
Thanks in part to Chinese manufacturing, costs in the wind and solar industries are decreasing fast, making them competitive with power generation from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. According to  Greenpeace, in 2015 China installed an average of more than one wind turbine every hour of every day, and covered the equivalent of one soccer field every hour with solar panels. Bloomberg New Energy Finance  estimates that China has invested $102bn in domestic renewable energy in 2015.
China surpassed the United States a decade ago as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses, and now its GHG emissions are twice as big as in the U.S. Read more at https://www.nytimes.com

Renewables provided one-third of power generation in Germany in 2016

According to The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, in 2016 Germany used more renewable electricity than ever before, receiving 32 percent of the gross amount of electricity consumed in the country from renewable sources.

The water footprint of energy

Water and energy are connected and highly interdependent - we need water for our energy systems and we need energy systems for our water. For example, in the United States, more freshwater (41 percent) is used to cool power plants than for any other use. From other side, about 8 percent of global energy generation is used for pumping, treating, and transporting water.

Kazakhstan will use energy auctions to boost renewables

The auctions are intended to make the selection process for projects and investors transparent and clear, increasing the effectiveness of technologies and minimising influence on tariffs. The decision to introduce the auctions was made contingent upon the analysis of best world practices, cooperation with EU, international organisations and institutions.

Germany decided to replace feed-in tariffs with energy auctions to cut costs of renewables

Feed-in tariffs worked well in the past, when renewable energy was still relatively expensive and number of installations was comparatively low. Germany went from 6 percent renewables share in 2000 to more than one-third in 2015, while photovoltaic solar costs, for example, dropped by 80 percent.

2015 was a record global growth year for both wind and solar power

According to Bloomberg, renewable energy has attracted in 2015 twice as much global investment as fossil fuels. As a result, renewable generation capacity increased by 152 gigawatts (GW) or 8.3% during 2015. Wind power grew 63 GW (17%) driven by declines in onshore turbine prices of up to 45% since 2010. Solar capacity increased 47 GW (26%) thanks to price drops of up to 80% for solar photovoltaic modules in the same time period.

China led the world in renewable energy investments with share of 36% in 2015

A new report published by the UN Environment Programme, Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016, reveals that all investment in renewables totaled $286 billion in 2015, around 3% higher than the previous record set back in 2011.

The Solutions Project shows exactly how world can reach 100% renewable energy

Team of researchers at Stanford developed interactive maps and plans to show how 139 different countries could practically go 100% renewable.

The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund - Croatian experience

The Fund was established in 2003 as an extra-budgetary fund, what means that financial sources for the Fund’s operation are secured from different kinds of environmental fees, all of which are following the ‘polluter-pays’ principle. The annual incomes of the Fund are at the level of approximately €200 million.

Renewables dominated new U.S. power capacity installations in 2015

Renewables accounted for over 69% of new power capacity, while wind power (40.9%), natural gas (30.5%) and solar power (25.9%) were major power sources.