By: Staff Writer
September 27, 2024
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) at the Global Renewables Summit during the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday said in their report that total global renewables capacity in 2023 increased by 14 percent rate, from 3 391 Gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 3 865 GW in 2023.
The report also said China is leading the way on renewables. “China represented the largest market for solar PV (63 percent), onshore wind (66 percent), offshore wind (65 percent) and hydropower (44 percent) in 2023. This was due to the country’s substantial renewable additions in 2023, which drove the decline in the global weighted average costs for these technologies,” the report said.
With a spectacular decline in costs to around four US cents per kilowatt hour in just one year, solar photovoltaics (PV)’s global costs in 2023 were 56% lower than fossil fuel and nuclear options. Overall, the renewable power deployed globally since 2000 has saved up to USD 409 billion in fuel costs in the power sector.
IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said: “Renewable power remains cost-competitive vis-à-vis fossil fuels. The virtuous cycle of long-term support policies has accelerated renewables. In return, growth has led to technology improvements and cost reductions. Prices for renewables are no excuse anymore, on the contrary. The record growth of renewables in 2023 exemplifies this. Low-cost renewables represent a key incentive to significantly increase ambition and triple renewable power capacity by 2030, as modelled by IRENA and set by the UAE Consensus at COP28”.
The report also said: “Regarding the technologies, onshore wind represented the highest savings, at USD $149 billion. Hydropower saw the second highest savings, at USD $117 billion, followed by solar PV, with USD $78 billion.
“Between 2022 and 2023, the global weighted average total installed cost of newly-commissioned onshore wind projects decreased 13 percent, from USD 1 322/kilowatt (kW) to USD 1 154/kW. Over the same period, the global weighted average LCOE for these projects fell by 3 percent, from USD 0.035/kWh to USD 0.033/kWh.”
Achieving the tripling renewables target requires global renewable capacity to reach 11.2 terawatts (TW) by 2030, adding an average of 1044 GW of new capacity annually through 2030. 8.5 TW would come from solar PV and onshore wind alone according to IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook.
Most importantly, the tripling goal must be accompanied by key energy transition enablers, such as storage. Battery storage project costs have dropped by 89% between 2010 and 2023, facilitating the integration of high shares of solar and wind capacity by helping address grid infrastructure challenges.
La Camera added: “In the coming years, remarkable growth across all renewable energy sources is expected, giving countries great economic opportunities. Our analysis indicates that solar PV and onshore wind will have the biggest impacts on the tripling of renewables. Thanks to low-cost renewables in the global market, policy makers have an immediate solution at hand to reduce fossil fuels dependency, limit the economic and social damage of carbon-intensive energy use, drive economic development and harness energy security benefits.”
The report added: “In 2023, China was once again the largest market for new onshore wind capacity additions, with its share of global new deployment rising from 50 percent to 66 percent, year-on-year. This resulted in markets with higher installed costs decreasing their share relative to 2021. If China had been excluded, the global weighted average LCOE curve for onshore wind for the period would have increased 15 percent.”
Achieving the tripling renewables target requires global renewable capacity to reach 11.2 terawatts (TW) by 2030, adding an average of 1044 GW of new capacity annually through 2030. 8.5 TW would come from solar PV and onshore wind alone according to IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook.
Most importantly, the tripling goal must be accompanied by key energy transition enablers, such as storage. Battery storage project costs have dropped by 89% between 2010 and 2023, facilitating the integration of high shares of solar and wind capacity by helping address grid infrastructure challenges.
La Camera added: “In the coming years, remarkable growth across all renewable energy sources is expected, giving countries great economic opportunities. Our analysis indicates that solar PV and onshore wind will have the biggest impacts on the tripling of renewables. Thanks to low-cost renewables in the global market, policy makers have an immediate solution at hand to reduce fossil fuels dependency, limit the economic and social damage of carbon-intensive energy use, drive economic development and harness energy security benefits.”