In an article written Sept 8, 2020 in PV-TECH.org news, the international news outlet that focuses specifically on solar PV supply in the global market, the headline posits that as the world is transitioning to renewable energy, it is doing so ‘nowhere near fast enough’ to adhere to regulatory compliance.
“Solar will dominate the power generation alongside wind in the coming decades as electrification rapidly escalates, but the energy transition is occurring “nowhere near fast enough” to deliver change compliant with the Paris Agreement” .
This verdict comes from the DNV GL’s (International Global Assurance and Risk Management Company) latest assessment that also determined advances in solar PV, wind, and battery technology shows progression in meeting the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement, “but only if they are scaled properly”.
In the next three decades, electricity demand is expected to rise from 19% of the world’s total energy mix to around 41% by 2050. This demand is in tandem with a meteoric rise of renewable energy sources, which is forecasted to provide 78% of the world’s electricity by 2050. Of that 78%, solar and wind will be
responsible for two-thirds of that energy with solar PV capacity expected to provide more than half of that energy.
Over the last decade, there have been rapid increases in solar installations worldwide, but with battery technology (still in its testing stages) only now starting to hit the market, supply and demand are not lining up with the forecast. This has posed a concern on the reality of meeting the expected growth of 2050. In addition, with the high penetration of renewable electricity, power markets are under pressure to gauge and handle the complexity of a near-trebling grid capacity demand, while also having to decide on dispatchable and non-dispatchable storage capabilities and prices.
COVID-19 has bought the global energy system some time as the pandemic ignited a major shift in energy demand. In a report that was issued earlier this year, both the DNV GL and the International Energy Agency found that behavioral shifts that were forced by the pandemic, such as working remote from home, presented a decrease in global energy demand by roughly 8%. And yet these effects on energy demand gave renewable energy time to catch-up, the pandemic did not slow down or alter the global climate crisis at hand. With this, it is essential that national and local policy incentives step up to help align the world with the “ambitions of Paris”.
Read more on this at: https://www.pv-tech.org/news/nowhere-near-fast-enough-solar-to-play-dominant-role-but-energy-transition-lagging-behind