Page 4 - AfrElec Week 19 2021

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

Solar and wind post strong

pandemic growth

Record levels of solar and wind additions are set to become the new normal as the world
pushes forward its post-pandemic recovery, writes Richard Lockhart

GLOBAL SOLAR and wind showed their fastest ever the IEA.
global expansion in 2020, and growth is set to “Governments need to build on this prom-
WHAT: become quicker in the coming years as Europe ising momentum through policies that encour-
Solar and wind posted and the US push forward the energy transition. age greater investment in solar and wind, in the
their fastest ever growth The International Energy Agency (IEA) said additional grid infrastructure they will require,
in 2020 in its latest market update that the amount of and in other key renewable technologies such
renewable electricity capacity added in 2020 rose as hydropower, bioenergy and geothermal. A
WHY: by 45% in 2020 to 280 GW, the largest increase in massive expansion of clean electricity is essen-
Developers rushed to a single year since 1999. tial to giving the world a chance of achieving its
complete projects before The IEA said that such levels of green capacity net zero goals.’’
tariffs fell in China and additions could become the “new normal,” with Drilling down into the data, global wind
the US 270 GW of renewable capacity set to be installed capacity additions almost doubled in 2020 to
in 2021 and almost 280 GW in 2022. 114 GW. That growth will slow down a bit in
WHAT NEXT: Continued growth will come despite a pre- 2021 and 2022, but the increases will still be
Europe, the US and Asia dicted slowdown in China in 20201 and 2020 50% larger than the average expansion during
must continue to drive following and exceptional and unprecedented the 2017-19 period.
extra growth as Chinese level of additions in 2020. The US and Europe Solar PV installations will continue to break
expansion slows down are forecast to compensate for China’s slower new records, with annual additions forecast
growth. to reach over 160 GW by 2022. That would be
The IEA said that it had revised upwards by almost 50% higher than the level achieved in
more than 25% its previous November estimates 2019 prior to the pandemic, affirming solar’s
for 2021, arguing that governments had auc- position as the “new king” of global electricity
tioned off record levels of renewable capacity in markets.
2020. Secondly, companies have signed a record
number of power purchase agreements (PPAs), a Country performance
key development obstacle in bringing projects to China is at the centre of global renewable
fruition, even as the pandemic spread, creating demand and supply, accounting for around 40%
macroeconomic uncertainties and supressing of global renewable capacity growth for several
demand. years.
In 2021-22, renewables growth in China is
Carbon neutrality set to stabilise at levels that are below the 2020
Moving the power generation sector away from record but still over 50% above where it was dur-
fossil fuels and towards green sources is a key ing the 2017-19 period.
pillar of global efforts to reach carbon neutral- Any slowdown in China in the coming years
ity, and forms the centrepiece of the UNPCC’s will be compensated for by strong growth in
efforts to reduce emissions and many govern- Europe, the US, India and Latin America, where
ments’ plans to decarbonise their economies. government support and falling prices for solar
Indeed, the continued growth in green elec- PV and wind continue to drive installations.
tricity is vital as CO2 emissions from the wider China is the largest manufacturer of solar
economy, especially from industry and trans- panels and wind turbines, as well as the biggest
port, are set to rise in 2021. This is caused both supplier of raw materials such as silicon, glass,
by renewed economic growth and a parallel rise steel, copper and rare earth materials needed to
in coal use, especially in China. build them. Supply chain constraints, including
“Wind and solar power are giving us more those caused by a fire in a Chinese silicon fac-
reasons to be optimistic about our climate goals tory last year, have recently pushed up prices of
as they break record after record. Last year, the PV modules, highlighting the sector’s potential
increase in renewable capacity accounted for vulnerabilities in the longer term.
90% of the entire global power sector’s expan- In the US, renewable capacity growth this
sion,” said Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of year and next is mainly spurred by the extension

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