Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 43 2021

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

$1 trillion solar investment

target set as costs fall

GLOBAL THE International Solar Alliance (ISA) and will play an enormous role in the transition to
Bloomberg Philanthropies are to lead efforts a more sustainable future but it has to be equi-
to mobilise $1 trillion in global investment for table. Only 2% of solar investment is going into
scaling up solar energy across ISA member Africa, even though the continent has vast solar
countries. potential and a large number of people without
Electricity demand is expected to triple in 75 electricity access.”
less-developed ISA countries over the next 30 The report found that from 1976 to 2020,
years, while the cost of utility-scale solar is antic- the average price of a crystalline silicon photo-
ipated to drop by almost 20% over the next five voltaic (PV) module fell from $77 per Watt (in
years, according to new research from Bloomb- 2020 dollars) to just $0.22 per Watt. The price has
ergNEF commissioned by the ISA. risen in 4Q 2021 to $0.25 owing to temporary
The research, contained in a Bloomberg NEF constraints in polysilicon and other parts of the
report called Scaling up Solar in ISA Member supply chain.
Countries, shows that solar power is the most Meanwhile, a current typical cost of an
economically viable solution for adding new installed Watt (DC) of solar capacity in a utili-
power generation capacity for more than half ty-scale project is $0.62. BNEF projects that to
the world’s population. sink to $0.50 by 2025. The drop will be driven by
The two organisations also said they would further reductions in the costs of modules, and
work with the World Resources Institute (WRI) by better technology and lower installation costs.
to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda, The report also found that financing for
which will launch at COP26, as well as a Solar energy access startups fell about 24% to $440mn
Investment Roadmap for 2022. in 2020 compared to 2019.
“Global energy demand is rapidly rising, Installed solar capacity stands at over 788
especially in developing countries, and the price GW today and BloombergNEF expects that to
of solar power is rapidly falling – but there is not quadruple to 3.2 TW cumulatively installed by
enough of it being deployed,” said Michael R. 2030. This rate of growth will not be nearly fast
Bloomberg, The UN Secretary General’s Spe- enough to put the world on a path to net-zero
cial Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions CO2 emissions by 2050, however.
and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Looking ahead, BNEF modelled multiple
Philanthropies. longer-term scenarios. Under BNEF’s “Green”
Using the BNEF analysis, Bloomberg Philan- scenario, governments dramatically strengthen
thropies, ISA and WRI will collaborate to ensure policies to meet the goal of achieving net-zero
ISA member countries and partners agree on the CO2 emissions by 2050, including providing
way to scale up investment and commit to cata- heavy support for the use of hydrogen produced
lysing $1 trillion towards solar energy by 2030. with zero-carbon sources of energy. Under the
The investment aims to capitalise on the ben- Green scenario, the world has 5.3 TW of solar
efits of solar energy, lift people out of energy pov- on line by 2030, both to meet 17% of electricity
erty and drive the transition to a lower-carbon demand and to power a major ramp-up in green
economy. hydrogen production.™
Ani Dasgupta, WRI CEO, said: “Solar energy

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 27•October•2021