Sector News
Reaching international energy and climate goals requires a sharp acceleration in clean energy innovation
New IEA special report shows critical need for research and development and other innovation efforts to achieve net-zero emissions objectives.
Without a major acceleration in clean energy innovation, countries and companies around the world will be unable to fulfil their pledges to bring their carbon emissions down to net-zero in the coming decades, according to a special report released today by the International Energy Agency.
The report assesses the ways in which clean energy innovation can be significantly accelerated to achieve net-zero emissions while enhancing energy security in a timeframe compatible with international climate and sustainable energy goals. The Special Report on Clean Energy Innovation is the first publication in the IEA’s revamped Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) series and includes a comprehensive new tool analysing the market readiness of more than 400 clean energy technologies.
“There is a stark disconnect today between the climate goals that governments and companies have set for themselves and the current state of affordable and reliable energy technologies that can realise these goals,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “This report examines how quickly energy innovation would have to move forward to bring all parts of the economy – including challenging sectors like long-distance transport and heavy industry – to net-zero emissions by 2050 without drastic changes to how we go about our lives. This analysis shows that getting there would hinge on technologies that have not yet even reached the market today. The message is very clear: in the absence of much faster clean energy innovation, achieving net-zero goals in 2050 will be all but impossible.”
A significant part of the challenge comes from major sectors where there are currently few technologies available for reducing emissions to zero, such as shipping, trucking, aviation and heavy industries like steel, cement and chemicals. Decarbonising these sectors will largely require the development of new technologies that are not currently in commercial use. However, the innovation process that takes a product from the research lab to the mass market can be long, and success is not guaranteed. It took decades for solar panels and batteries to reach the stage they are at now. Time is in even shorter supply now.
Notably, the report highlights the importance of making sure crucial clean energy solutions are ready in time for the start of multi-decade investment cycles in key industries. Doing so could create huge markets for new technologies and avoid locking in vast amounts of emissions for decades to come. If key technologies become available by 2030 to take advantage of the next round of plant refurbishments in heavy industry, nearly 60 gigatonnes of carbon emissions could be avoided.
Another issue is that many of the clean energy technologies that are available today – such as offshore wind turbines, electric vehicles and certain applications of carbon capture, utilisation and storage – need a continued push on innovation to bring down costs and accelerate deployment.
Around three-quarters of the cumulative reductions in carbon emissions that would be needed to move the world onto a sustainable path would come from technologies that have not yet reached full maturity, according to the IEA report. For example, it would require rapid progress in new battery designs that are still at the prototype stage now to shift long-distance transport from fossil fuels to electricity.
But the public and private sectors are currently falling short of delivering the innovation efforts to back up their net-zero ambitions – and the Covid-19 crisis is threatening to further undermine projects around the world focused on developing vital new energy technologies.
“A recent IEA survey revealed that companies that are developing net-zero emissions technologies consider it likely that their research and development budgets will be reduced, a clear sign of the damage that the Covid-19 crisis could do to clean energy innovation,” Dr Birol said. “Now is not the time to weaken support for this essential work. If anything, it is time to strengthen it.”
To help guide policy makers at this challenging time, the IEA report offers five key innovation principles for governments that aim to deliver net-zero emissions while enhancing energy security:
- Prioritise, track and adjust. Review the processes for selecting technology portfolios for public support to ensure that they are rigorous, collective, flexible and aligned with local advantages.
- Raise public R&D and market-led private innovation. Use a range of tools – from public research and development to market incentives – to expand funding according to the different technologies.
- Address all links in the value chain. Look at the bigger picture to ensure that all components of key value chains are advancing evenly towards the next market application and exploiting spillovers.
- Build enabling infrastructure. Mobilise private finance to help bridge the “valley of death” by sharing the investment risks of network enhancements and commercial-scale demonstrators.
- Work globally for regional success. Co-operate to share best practices, experiences and resources to tackle urgent and global technology challenges, including via existing multilateral platforms.
In particular, the report highlights issues requiring immediate attention in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, such as the importance of governments maintaining research and development funding at planned levels through 2025 and considering raising it in strategic areas. It stresses that market-based policies and funding can help scale up value chains for small, modular technologies with overlapping innovation needs like new types of batteries and electrolysers, significantly advancing their progress.
“Together with the Sustainable Recovery Plan that the IEA presented last month, this innovation report will provide the foundation for the IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit on 9 July,” Dr Birol said. “The Summit will be the most important global event on energy and climate issues of 2020, bringing together more than 40 government ministers, industry CEOs and other energy leaders from countries representing 80% of global energy use and emissions. The aim is to build a grand coalition to help drive economic development and job creation by accelerating transitions towards clean, resilient and inclusive energy systems.”
Sector News
Large construction site for the energy transition: RWE modernises two wind farms and increases power generation
Ground frost, gusts of wind, cold – the RWE team braved the adverse conditions. Over the next few weeks, a total of around 100 employees and experts from RWE and its partner companies will be working on two wind farms to dismantle 17 older wind turbines and replace them with 11 new, more powerful ones. By repowering the wind farms in this way, RWE can significantly increase electricity production despite using fewer turbines. This is due to the larger rotor blades being able to capture more wind and produce green electricity even when the wind is weak. At the Lesse and Barbecke sites, the company will increase capacity from 30.6 to 61.8 megawatts (MW).
Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia: “43,500 is the number of the day. Once operational, the wind farms will be able to supply the equivalent of 43,500 households with green electricity. Electricity production at both sites will more than triple. Repowering is therefore making an important contribution to the success of the energy transition. But it is not only the climate that benefits, since we voluntarily pay an RWE climate bonus of 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour produced to the local communities. The town of Salzgitter and the municipalities of Lengede, Burgdorf and Söhlde can look forward to a total annual income of up to €280,000, which will be distributed among the municipalities.”
RWE opts for established wind sites in Lesse and Barbecke
The local conditions make the area suitable for wind power, with sufficient distance from the nearest villages and good wind conditions. In Lesse, RWE will replace eleven turbines of the oldest generation (total capacity 19.8 MW) with eight modern turbines with a total capacity of 44.7 MW.
In Barbecke, RWE will replace six existing turbines (total capacity 10.8 MW) with three turbines with an installed capacity of 5.7 MW each (total capacity 17.1 MW). The team has started to set up the construction site and carry out initial road works.
Any repowering project is a logistical challenge. In parallel with the new construction, the old turbines need to remain connected to the grid for as long as possible in order to continue generating green electricity.
Jens Meyer, Project manager at RWE: “We really have our hands full. While we have already laid the first foundation with a diameter of more than 26 metres for the new wind farm in Lesse, we were able to start dismantling the old plant at the same time. We are doing this in the most environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient way possible. We are leaving areas that are no longer required in such a way that they can be used without restriction after dismantling. We also reuse some of the gravel removed from roads and crane pads in the new wind farm.”
How communities benefit from wind power
RWE operates around 90 onshore wind farms in its home market. Involving citizens and local authorities in renewable energy projects is a key element in driving forward the energy transition. It promotes local acceptance. In Germany, the company gives all municipalities with an RWE wind farm a share of the profits. As the RWE climate bonus is paid per kilowatt hour of electricity generated, communities where high-capacity plants are based benefit the most. This creates an additional incentive to replace older plants with modern ones. In Lesse and Barbecke, electricity production will more than triple after repowering. Municipalities can expect to receive up to €280,000 per year of wind farm operation, up from up to €80,000. The additional income can be used, for example, to financially support local facilities such as day-care centres for children, schools and fire brigades. RWE plans to commission all new plants this coming winter.
Sector News
The EU built a record 17 GW of new wind energy in 2023 – wind now 19% of electricity production
The EU built 17 GW of new wind energy in 2023, slightly up on 2022 – and more than ever in a single year in fact. But it’s not enough to reach the EU’s 2030 targets. The EU should be building 30 GW of new wind every year between now and 2030. The actions set out in the EU Wind Power Package and European Wind Charter will help increase the annual build-out – national implementation is key. Wind was 19% of all electricity produced in Europe’s last year.
According to WindEurope data, the EU built 17 GW of new wind farms in 2023: 14 GW onshore; 3 GW offshore. These numbers are slightly up on 2022 and are the most the EU has ever built in a single year. But it’s well below the 30 GW a year that the EU needs to build to meet its new 2030 climate and energy security targets.
Germany built the most new wind capacity followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. The Netherlands built the most new offshore wind, including the 1.5 GW “Hollandse Kust Zuid” – for now the world’s largest wind farm.
The IEA estimates that Europe will build 23 GW a year of new wind over 2024-28. The actions set out in the EU Wind Power Package should deliver a significant increase in the annual build-out – and strengthen Europe’s wind energy supply chain. National implementation of the actions is key.
To that end the commitment to deliver the Wind Power Package that 26 EU Energy Ministers signed before Christmas in the European Wind Charter was key. Crucial actions include the further simplification of permitting, improvements in the design of the auctions to build new wind farms and public financial support for wind turbine manufacturing and key infrastructure.
Wind was 19% of the electricity produced in the EU last year. Hydro was 13%, solar 8% and biomass 3%. Renewables in total amounted to 44% of electricity produced.
The amount of electricity produced from 1 GW of wind continued to grow. The “capacity factor” of new onshore wind farms now ranges from 30-48%, and new offshore wind is consistently 50%. The capacity factor measures how much output you get from a unit of capacity – it varies between different renewable technologies.
Sector News
A Race to the Top China 2023: China’s quest for energy security drives wind and solar development
China is on track to double its utility-scale solar and wind power capacity and shatter the central government’s ambitious 2030 target of 1,200 gigawatts (GW) five years ahead of schedule, if all prospective projects are successfully built and commissioned, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
China on track to exceed 2030 wind & solar target
With 757 GW of already operating wind and solar, and an additional 750 GW of prospective wind and solar, the majority of which expected to come online by 2025, the central government’s 2030 target is expected to be met 5 years ahead of schedule.
The Global Solar and Wind Power Trackers identify prospective projects that have been announced or are in the pre-construction and construction phases totalling approximately 379 GW of large utility-scale solar and 371 GW of wind capacity, which is roughly equal to China’s current installed operating capacity.
Nearly all of this prospective capacity is part of the government’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and enough to increase the global wind fleet by nearly half and large utility-scale solar installations by over 85%. This amount of prospective solar capacity is triple that of the United States, and accompanied by China’s significant share of approximately one-fifth of the global prospective wind capacity.
The Global Solar and Wind Power Trackers also show:
. China’s operating large utility-scale solar capacity has reached 228 GW – more than the rest of the world combined.
. China’s combined onshore and offshore wind capacity has doubled from what it was in 2017 and now surpasses 310 GW.
. Operating offshore wind capacity has reached 31.4 GW, and accounts for approximately 10% of China’s total wind capacity and exceeds the operating offshore capacity of all of Europe
“This new data provides unrivaled granularity about China’s jaw-dropping surge in solar and wind capacity. As we closely monitor the implementation of prospective projects, this detailed information becomes indispensable in navigating the country’s energy landscape.” Dorothy Mei, Project Manager at Global Energy Monitor
“China is making strides, but with coal still holding sway as the dominant power source, the country needs bolder advancements in energy storage and green technologies for a secure energy future.” Martin Weil, Researcher at Global Energy Monitor
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