Page 4 - AfrElec Week 36 2021

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

Global wind bounces back,

but needs faster expansion

to meet climate goals

GLOBAL THE global wind sector has bounced back located in China (5.7 GW).
strongly since the initial months of the corona- What this means is that governments
virus (COVID-19) pandemic. announced that capacity is up for auction, but
The global offshore wind industry installed that some of it has still to be awarded to bidders.
6.1 GW of capacity in 2020, down slightly from Offshore wind outpaced onshore during 2Q,
a record 6.24 GW in 2019, the Global Wind reflecting current auction trends worldwide.
Energy Council (GWEC) said in its Global Off- Poland emerged as the world leader between
shore Wind Report 2021. April and June, awarding 5.9 GW, followed by
China led the world in new onshore instal- the US with 2.7 GW and Japan with 16.8 MW.
lations for the third year in a row with more Onshore, 4.2 GW of new wind capacity
than 3 GW of offshore wind grid connected in was awarded globally in Q2 2021, led by China
2020. Steady growth in Europe accounted for the (nearly 50%), followed by Germany (42%),
majority of remaining new capacity, led by the Poland (7%) and Italy (1%).
Netherlands, which installed nearly 1.5 GW of
new offshore wind in 2020, followed by Belgium Europe
(706 MW). In Europe, a total of 2.1 GW of onshore wind
The 2020 total of 6.1 GW was slightly below capacity was awarded in the second quarter of
GWEC’s prediction of 6.6 GW made in its 2020 this year through auctions in Germany, Poland
Global Offshore Wind Report a year ago. and Italy.
GWEC expects a new record year in 2021, as All these auctions were undersubscribed,
China’s offshore wind sector rushes to install 7.5 which indicates developers’ hesitancy to par-
GW ahead of the expiry of current feed-in tariffs ticipate. This is primarily due to the so-called
(FITs). 10H Distance Rule in Poland, which hampers
Meanwhile, taking the wind sector, both onshore wind project development, as well as
onshore and offshore, as a whole, capacity the persisting permitting issues in Germany and
awards in 2Q 2021 reached 12.78 GW, almost Italy.
six times higher than the 2.17 GW awarded in In addition, the full capacity from the third
2Q 2020. Additions also rose by 82% from 7 GW joint solar-wind 350-MW tender in Greece,
in 1Q 2021. launched in May, was awarded to solar.
The rapid rise was the result of capacity auc- The European offshore wind sector achieved
tions in both mature and emerging wind mar- great progress in Q2 2021. Following the first
kets being postponed to 3Q 2020 because of the Offshore Wind Act passed in January 2021,
pandemic, the GWEC said in its separate Q2 Poland awarded the first phase of offshore wind
2021 Wind Energy Auction Update. projects of 5.9-GW capacity by 30 June, 2021
through its contract for difference (CfD) scheme,
Auctions schedule with financial support of €22.5bn coming from
The Q2 2021 Wind Energy Auction Update the European Commission.
found that auction schedules were severely In April 2021, France announced the first
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first commercial floating offshore wind auction for
two quarters of 2020. Green recovery stimulus a 250-MW project in the Atlantic Ocean south
packages and efforts by governments to achieve of Brittany, announced under the country’s
wind targets also pushed up awards in 2021. Multiannual Energy Programme (PPE), with
Meanwhile, a total of 1.85 GW of new auc- the deadline for parties to express their interest
tioned capacity was announced globally during closing on 19 July, 2021.
Q2 2021, of which 250 MW stands unawarded as
of September 2021. Asia and the Americas
Of the 14.2-GW auction capacity announced In Asia, China was the only country that
in Q1 2021, almost 6 GW of its capacity remains awarded onshore wind auctions in Q2 2021. All
to be awarded in the second half of 2021, mostly of the 2.1 GW approved and awarded onshore

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 36 09•September•2021