According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global renewable electricity installation will hit record growth this year, defying COVID-19. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel sector faces a sharp decline caused by the pandemic.
Nearly 90% of new electricity generation will be renewable, and only 10% of gas and coal. Even as economies struggle with the coronavirus, major countries like China, India, and the US have seen a rise in renewables.
The IEA report reads:
Despite the challenges emerging from the Covid crisis, the fundamentals of renewable energy expansion have not changed.
The trend puts green electricity on track to ending coal’s 50-year reign by 2025.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said:
Renewable power is defying the difficulties caused by the pandemic, showing robust growth while other fuels struggle. The resilience and positive prospects of the sector are clearly reflected by continued strong appetite from investors. Fossil fuels have had a turbulent time in 2020 as COVID-19-related measures caused demand from transport and other sectors to plunge.
In 2025, renewables are set to become the largest source of electricity generation worldwide, ending coal’s five decades as the top power provider. By that time, renewables are expected to supply one-third of the world’s electricity – and their total capacity will be twice the size of the entire power capacity of China today.
2020 has been an economically uncertain period, but it hasn’t halted the stream of investment going into renewable energy installation worldwide. From January to October, there was a 15% increase in auctioned-off renewable energy, compared to the same period last year.
Also, the average share price of publicly traded solar power companies more than doubled during that period, compared to the previous year. This is because the growing awareness of the need to deal with the climate crisis by slashing carbon emissions has made renewables an attractive opportunity to investors.
Since 2010, solar power has increased by 18 times and wind by four. Last month Birol proclaimed:
I see solar becoming the new king of the world’s electricity markets.
The 2021 forecast presents even more robust growth, with the EU and India as the driving forces of a 10% expansion in renewables by the end of the year. This year should see a 7% expansion with an increase of 200 gigawatts thanks to the US and China racing to take advantage of expiring incentive schemes.
However, under current policies, growth could decline in 2022. Birol said:
Renewables are resilient to the Covid crisis but not to policy uncertainties. Governments can tackle these issues to help bring about a sustainable recovery and accelerate clean energy transitions. In the US, for instance, if the proposed clean electricity policies of the next US administration are implemented, they could lead to a much more rapid deployment of solar PV and wind.
With solar being the cheapest form of electricity ever now, it’s safe to say renewables are the best bet. The IEA predicts:
By 2025, coal could seem relatively pointless, as not only is renewable energy the cheapest in history, but it will be on track to supply the majority of the world.
A downpour of incredible prospects for renewable energy has been washing over the world and will be taking over the global energy market this decade. It’s a dream come true and represents outcomes that climate change activists have been screaming for.
