Renewable energy to provide biggest growth in power generation

• 9 years ago (2015-10-13)
• David Flin

Asia 898 Renewables 780

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that renewable energy will represent the largest single source of growth in power generation over the next five years, as a result of falling costs and aggressive expansion in emerging economies. However, for such rapid expansion to take place, the IEA said that governments must reduce policy uncertainties that are acting as brakes and blocking an affordable method to mitigating climate change.

The report said renewable electricity additions over the next five years will be above 700 GW, more than twice Japan’s current installed power capacity. These will account for almost two-thirds of net additions to global power capacity. Non-hydro sources such as wind and solar photovoltaic panels will represent nearly half of the total global power capacity increase.

The report sees the share of renewable energy in global power generation rising to over 26 per cent by 2020. By 2020, the amount of global electricity coming from renewable energy will be higher than today’s combined electricity demand of China, India, and Brazil. The report says that the geography of deployment will increasingly shift to emerging economies and developing countries, which will make up two-thirds of the renewable electricity expansion to 2020. China alone will account for nearly 40 per cent of total renewable power capacity growth.