Wind, Solar Power Made Strong Gains in 2020, IEA Says
May 11 2021 - 1:29AM
Dow Jones News
By David Hodari
Renewable power capacity grew at its fastest pace this century
in 2020, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday, raising its
growth forecast for wind and solar power for this year and
next.
According to the Paris-based energy watchdog, renewables were
the only energy source for which demand increased last year, with
Covid-19 lockdowns hitting consumption of all other fuels as
government restrictions shut factories, grounded planes and kept
people at home.
The addition to the world's renewable electricity capacity last
year was 45% more than in the prior year -- the biggest jump since
1999 -- as wind and solar farms sprang up across the world's major
economies, the IEA said in a report. The increase of 280 gigawatts
in 2020 was partly driven by a rush to complete projects before
government subsidies elapsed in China, the U.S. and Vietnam.
The IEA raised its 2021 and 2022 growth forecasts by around 25%,
with an addition of 270 gigawatts in capacity expected this year
and 280 gigawatts next year.
Growing demand for renewable power comes as governments and
companies around the world try to cut carbon emissions with the aim
of limiting global warming. The Paris Agreement, which the Biden
administration rejoined in February, calls for cutting emissions
enough to keep temperatures less than 2 degrees Celsius above
preindustrial levels.
"Wind and solar power are giving us more reasons to be
optimistic about our climate goals as they break record after
record," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, adding that
greater use of lower-carbon electricity was needed for the world to
achieve its carbon-reduction goals.
While renewables are gaining ground, fossil fuels remain the
world's dominant source of energy. In 2019, before the coronavirus
pandemic hammered global transportation and industry, oil, natural
gas and coal accounted for 81% of global energy consumption, the
IEA says. That figure is expected to drop to 76% by 2030, though
rising overall demand still means increased use of carbon-intensive
energy. Carbon emissions also have snapped back from their 2020
plunge.
Still, the recent acceleration in renewable energy growth will
outlast the pandemic, the IEA said. The agency categorizes
hydropower and bioenergy, as well as solar and wind, as
renewables.
Some energy giants including Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC
have signaled their intentions to reduce their dependence on fossil
fuels and invest in lower-carbon energy.
The IEA expects solar power to play a key role in the expansion
of global renewables capacity, with additions in 2022 forecast to
be 50% higher than they were in 2019. It also forecasts strong
growth for wind power in the next two years, albeit at a lower rate
than 2020.
However, the IEA said it expects new capacity in China -- long a
driver of global renewables growth -- to plateau as government
subsidies end, despite Beijing's pledge to reach peak carbon
emissions before 2030.
Rising investment in Europe, the U.S., India and Latin America
should more than offset any ebbing in Chinese renewable energy
investment, the report said. The European Union plans to spend $1
trillion to reach its goal of net carbon neutrality by 2050.
The IEA's assessment doesn't take into account the Biden
administration's plan to halve carbon emissions by 2030 or its $2.3
trillion infrastructure plan -- part of which is aimed at tackling
climate change. If enacted the bill "would drive a much stronger
acceleration of the deployment of renewables after 2022," the IEA
said.
Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2021 01:14 ET (05:14 GMT)
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