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Renewable energy capacity globally increased 6% in 2022
2023-02-08
Renewable energy capacity globally increased 6% in 2022, primarily due to China and the European Union. According to IRENA, renewable energy is now the most affordable source of power available. Yet, numerous nations such as South Korea are lagging behind in making this switch. Joojin Kim, Executive Director for Solutions for Our Climate argues that bureaucratic and monopolistic market governance plays a role: “South Africa, Mexico, Japan, and Korea all have similar issues with generation and network assets connected. If a single company holds control over the grid and pricing along with legacy fossil assets it creates a carbon lock-in”. John Murton, UK Government's COP26 Envoy commented on reforming South Africa's electricity market so that private sector investments can fund renewable projects and conserve concessionary capital to address a just energy transition.
Ben Backwell, CEO of Global Wind Energy Council pointed out that the world needs to speed up bureaucracy to reach global 8TW target by 2050. In addition, David Wright, Group Chief Engineer at National Grid noted that prioritizing grid flexibility is needed for decarbonising electricity: “Fundamentally, it requires dispatching demand based on availability of green electrons when available”. To do this markets need to be changed so they are not based on prices from fossil fuels but instead reward flexibility. With the right market changes in place, technology and solutions will follow suit.
Renewable energy capacity globally increased 6% in 2022, primarily due to China and the European Union. According to IRENA, renewable energy is now the most affordable source of power available. Yet, numerous nations such as South Korea are lagging behind in making this switch. Joojin Kim, Executive Director for Solutions for Our Climate argues that bureaucratic and monopolistic market governance plays a role: “South Africa, Mexico, Japan, and Korea all have similar issues with generation and network assets connected. If a single company holds control over the grid and pricing along with legacy fossil assets it creates a carbon lock-in”. John Murton, UK Government's COP26 Envoy commented on reforming South Africa's electricity market so that private sector investments can fund renewable projects and conserve concessionary capital to address a just energy transition.
Ben Backwell, CEO of Global Wind Energy Council pointed out that the world needs to speed up bureaucracy to reach global 8TW target by 2050. In addition, David Wright, Group Chief Engineer at National Grid noted that prioritizing grid flexibility is needed for decarbonising electricity: “Fundamentally, it requires dispatching demand based on availability of green electrons when available”. To do this markets need to be changed so they are not based on prices from fossil fuels but instead reward flexibility. With the right market changes in place, technology and solutions will follow suit.