Page 10 - AfrElec Week 27 2021

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

13,000 shovel-ready green

projects could kick-start

post-COVID recovery

GLOBAL 13,000 shovel-ready renewable energy projects Meanwhile, China surpassed its renewable
have the potential to provide 22% of the emission energy installations record set in 2019 with an
reductions needed to meet the UN’s Paris goals addition of almost 72 GW of wind power.
and 10mn potential new jobs, research from EY In December 2020 alone, 48 GW of installed
and the European Climate Foundation (ECF) capacity was deployed in China. China’s target
has found. of becoming carbon-neutral by 2060 has driven
The projects, based in 47 countries, will this surge
provide a $2 trillion investment boom, 90% of Investment could mitigate or reverse a sub-
which can be net by the private sector, and accel- stantial proportion of the economic losses due
erate post-coronavirus (COVID-19) economic to COVID across the countries included in the
recovery. study, and lay the foundation for sustainable
The projects offer governments a “no regrets” economic growth driven by abundant, low-cost,
path to economic recovery, delivering emissions renewable energy.
reduction, jobs and economic growth, and offer The report found that GDP had declined in
an alternative to relying on fossil fuels to meeting the 47 countries, which comprise around 88%
recovering energy demand. of global GDP, by over $2.2tn in 2020, largely
The 13,000 projects, which cover solar, wind caused by COVID-19.
and hydro, offer 1 TW of renewables generating The pipeline of shovel-ready projects could
capacity and could avoid 2.5bn tonnes of CO2e provide an injection of more than $1.9 tril-
emissions. lion into the global economy over a three-year
This would provide 22% of the UNFCCC period, which accounts for 85% of the GDP lost
NDC (the Paris Agreement) emissions reduc- in 2020.
tion target for 2030. The report estimated that this pipeline could
It would also account for 9% of the global create a permanent recurring GDP contribution
emissions reduction target for 2030 set out by of $60bn resulting from operation of the assets.
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change While the size of the opportunity varies coun-
(IPCC) to limit global warming below 1.5°C. try to country, the median size of the investment
The report comes as the IEA warned in May pipeline is equivalent to 28% of that economy’s
that the road to net zero by 2050 was “narrow but 2020 GDP loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
still achievable,” and that immediate and massive Looking ahead, the report calls for govern-
deployment of green tech was necessary to fight ments to put in place key policy enablers in
climate change. order to get the most out of a green recovery and
The report highlighted recent solar pro- unlock the full potential of private investment in
gress in Vietnam, where rooftop solar capacity renewable energy.
installed from 2019-2020 exceeded the visible International co-operation and co-ordina-
four-year solar PV pipeline in 2018 by almost tion as well as collaboration between the pri-
100%. vate sector and public sector are needed to take
Installations in rooftop solar PV capacity in advantage of the shovel-ready projects.
Vietnam have increased by 2,435% since the The report emphasised that this pipeline of
beginning of 2019, driven largely by a feed-in 13,000 investable projects could catalyse a green
tariff (FiT) scheme. recovery, and the reliance on public finances is
In December 2020, the FiT scheme was con- minimal, with the private sector accounting for
cluded, leading to an increase in installed solar up to 90%.™
rooftop capacity by 6.7 GW in that month alone.

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