It is encouraging to see both the current government and the opposition include nuclear energy firmly at the centre of their net zero strategies But although the ambition is certainly there, the question that remains is whether the money is too.
By Vince Zabielski, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
One of the most significant challenges posed by connecting more renewable energy to the grid is intermittency. Balancing the potential energy shortages or oversupply requires a flexible approach.
By Steven Hardman, CEO, Conrad Energy
Although the introduction of the US Inflation Reduction Act IRA incentivises solar manufacturing, local production capacity is currently only around 13 GW. This falls far short of government ambitions, and pales in comparison to the 1000 GW that China could produce if its factories were running at full capacity. The figures reflect how serious the oversupply situation is for the Chinese market, while the US faces mounting pressure to translate planned projects into reality.
By Brian Crotty, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Dow Jones Energy
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has produced a new report, Electricity 2024, that states that global electricity demand is expected to grow at a faster rate over the next three years, with all the additional demand forecast to be covered by technologies that produce low-emissions electricity.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook that solar and wind will lead US power generation growth for the next two years.
According to a report from the IEA, 50 per cent more renewable capacity was added globally in 2023 than in 2022, and it predicts that the next 5 years will see the fastest growth in this sector ever, giving it the opportunity to achieve the goal of tripling global capacity by 2030 set at COP28.
REN, Portugal’s national grid operator, said that the country obtained a record amount of its power from clean energy sources in 2023, with renewables accounting for 61 per cent of power use.
Spain’s government has confirmed that it will close all of its remaining nuclear power plants by 2035.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered construction of the largest renewable energy power plant in the West Asia region.
South Africa has launched three bidding rounds for 7615 MW of new power generation from renewable energy, natural gas, and battery storage, part of efforts to overcome power outages crippling the country’s economic output.