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AleaSoft reviews the news about the European electricity markets and the factors that most influenced their prices and those that were most commented in the news of the sector, along with other topics such as PPAs.

The CO2 emission rights price has carried the bad reputation earned during 2018 over into 2019, when its tremendous upward race tripled its price in a few months and dragged along with it the price of electricity markets across Europe. So far in 2019, the price of CO2 has continued at very high levels, exceeding even the levels reached is September last year, but at least its explosive upward race has slowed down. Even so, the CO2 and the trading of emission rights continued to be present in the news of the sector. This is due to the close relationship that the emission rights keep with the fight for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and against climate change.

In January, the Royal Decree that was already preparing the ground for the fourth phase of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for CO2 and other greenhouse gases as of 2021 was published. Already then, AleaSoft mentioned that, although emission rights are an essential tool for the decarbonisation of the electricity generation, the impact it has on the competitiveness of the electrointensive industry compared to other countries outside the EU ETS, known as the carbon leakage, should not be underestimated.

The electrointensive industry also occupied many headlines these months, especially after the latest results of interruptible power allocation auctions. According to the Association of Companies with Great Energy Consumption (AEGE, for its acronym in Spanish), these results, which have been the worst in the history of the auctions, aggravate the loss of competitiveness of the companies with large electricity consumption, so they asked the government to take urgent measures to resolve this competitive disadvantage.

Another aspect that also concerns the electrointensive industry is another of the highlighted headlines’ topics, especially during April: the return of the 7% tax on electricity generation. This is how the IVPEE, the Tax on the Value of Electric Energy Production, is popularly known. This tax, levied with 7% the energy sold in the market, was reintroduced as of April 1 after a temporary six-month suspension. According to AleaSoft’s estimations at that time, the price of the electricity market could increase between 2% and 5% at first.

In addition to the electrointensive industry, the reintroduction of the tax on generation also affected the competitiveness of Spanish combined cycle power plants and thermal power plants compared to its Portuguese and French competitors that do not have this additional tax burden and, thanks to international interconnections, they can sell their most competitive energy in the Spanish electricity market.

Regarding the capacity of international interconnections, on March 26, the European Parliament definitively approved the reform of the European electricity market, which already had the approval of the European Union Council and the Parliament permanent representatives. This reform classifies as urgent the need to increase the capacity of these interconnections and that this capacity should be available to the wholesale markets, in order to adequately integrate the increase in renewable production and advance towards the decarbonisation of the electricity system.

It also made the news in this 2019 the confirmation of the trend of the volatility decrease of the price in the electricity markets thanks, among others, to the increase in the capacity of international interconnections, especially with France. The interconnections act as a shock absorber for prices, increasing the flow of imports or exports when prices between two markets tend to separate.
On the other hand, the gas and coal fuels prices for electricity generation were the protagonists, but for the opposite case of the price of CO2: to go down. During 2018 the price of TTF gas and API 2 coal, the reference in the European continent, rose in tandem with the price of CO2 emission rights and peaked in September. Since then, and throughout the first half of 2019, the prices of these two fuels have not stopped falling, reaching minimum values of several years.

Also during this first part of the year the shutdown calendar of the Spanish nuclear power plants, after fifty years of the commissioning of the first power plant was announced. This calendar, agreed between the shareholders of the power plants and Enresa, places the closure of the last power plant in 2035. If the calendar is finally met, the nuclear energy will have been present in the Spanish electricity mix for almost seventy years.

This agreement to put an end to nuclear power in Spain has led to the questioning of emission reduction targets for 2030, given that nuclear energy represents a virtually constant electricity production and without CO2 emissions. Its disappearance from the generation mix will give more prominence to gas combined cycles as a backup for non-dispatchable renewable energies which, while less polluting than coal-fired plants, are CO2 emitters.

The total shutdown or a decrease of nuclear power is planned in several countries such as Germany, France, Belgium and Sweden in their plans to achieve the environmental objectives of 2030. However there are other countries, such as Finland, which plan to increase their nuclear capacity or, like Poland, to start using it in the next twenty years.

But the shutdown of nuclear power plants will not only impact CO2 emissions. The disappearance of a stable base production that makes market offers at zero price will have an undeniable impact on the electricity market price. The closure of each nuclear reactor will lead to an increase in the electricity market price. The magnitude of this increase will depend on the state of renewable power implementation at that time. Once again, uncertain and potentially catastrophic forecasts for the electricity consumers appear.

Faced with these uncertainties, it is essential to properly manage the market price risk. For a large energy consumer to manage that risk and assess their options between buying in the spot market, futures markets and a PPA, he must now have a clear answer to the question: what is the probability that the average market price in 2030 will be above 50 €/MWh?

Source: Aleasoft

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SENER, global engineering and technology group, together with its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners, Emvelo and Cobra, announces that the Ilanga-1 Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant has been completed.

The EPC partners reached the certificate to initiate commercial operation of the turnkey solar thermal power plant project located at Karoshoek Solar Valley on 30 November 2018. This means the conclusion of construction, commissioning and testing of the 100 MWe Concentrated Solar Power plant. The plant has been handed over to the owner, Karoshoek Solar One (RF) Proprietary Limited. The plant will supply electricity to the national grid through Eskom, the South African electricity public utility.

“This is a historic moment in South Africa’s energy transition as another renewable energy powerplant that supplies clean, reliable, sustainable and dispatchable energy is successfully completed. We are particularly pleased that it was completed on time, within budget, within the required quality standards, in line with the contracted output performance and within acceptable safety standards. We are also pleased with the level of localization, BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment), skills development and job creation that was achieved on the project. It is a clear indication of what is possible if the CSP industry can be nurtured and allowed to flourish in South Africa. SENER is proud of being a technology provider, engineering subcontractor and member of the EPC contractor on such a special project.” said Siyabonga Mbanjwa, Regional Managing Director for SENER Southern Africa.

“Ilanga 1 will provide on-demand power to South Africans for the next 20 years, in the same manner as conventional power generation projects. It has no fuel costs nor harmful emissions and has created employment for many people in the area of Upington. Ilanga 1 is an important step in South Africa’s energy future, procuring on-demand power from an efficient and accountable source with no resource risk and a controlled tariff. We as Grupo Cobra look forward to the continued growth of the local energy sector and will continue to provide world class development, construction and operations services to the South African market” said Jose Minguillon, CEO of Cobra South Africa.

“This is the first CSP plant in the history of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Program (REIPPPP) that was conceived and developed by a 100% black owned South African entity. This demonstrates that Black Industrialists can lead in the development and execution of large renewable energy infrastructure projects. With a 550MWe pipeline of projects that are shovel ready at Karoshoek Solar Valley, the potential to localize, create jobs and provide business opportunities to new youth and women led SMMEs is colossal and what is required is for government to ensure that CSP remains a part of its energy mix policy and is included in the Draft IRP” said Pancho Ndebele, founder of Emvelo.

The joint venture between SENER, Cobra and Emvelo was appointed by Karoshoek Solar One (RF) Proprietary Limited to provide engineering, procurement and construction services as well as operation and maintenance for the project. The Ilanga-1 CSP plant, made up of 266 SENERtrough® loops, with approximately 870,000 square metres of curved mirrors, is equipped with a molten salt storage system (SENER proprietary technology) that allows 5 hours of thermal energy storage to extend the operational capacity of the plant to continue producing electricity in absence of solar radiation. This is a unique characteristic of CSP that radically changes the role of renewable sources in the global power supply. SENERtrough® collectors, a parabolic trough technology, are also specifically designed and patented by SENER, aimed at improving the efficiency of the plant.

In line with government’s four accords, emanating from the New Growth Path (NGP); namely basic education, skills development, local procurement and the green economy, approximately 1,500 jobs were created during the construction phase. Recently, a technical training course for 50 prospective employees at the plant, located in Karoshoek almost 30km east of Upington, were completed and further local socio-economic development was done by the EPC consortium, in the nearby communities located a stones throw away from the plant. It is estimated that Ilanga-1 will supply clean and dispatchable energy to around 100,000 homes and save 90,000 tons of CO2 per year over a period of 20 years.

Source: SENER

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Global carbon emissions are set to hit an all-time high in 2018 – according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Global Carbon Project. The new data for 2018 reveals that global emissions from burning fossil fuels are expected to reach 37.1 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2018. CO2 emissions have now risen for a second year, after three years of little-to-no growth from 2014 to 2016. The rise this year is projected at 2.7%. In 2017 it was 1.6%.

The 10 biggest emitters in 2018 are China, the US, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Canada. The EU as a whole region of countries ranks third.

What is driving the rise?

This year’s rising emission figures are largely due to solid growth in coal use, but coal still remains below its historical high in 2013. Coal use may soon exceed this 2013 peak if current growth continues.

Oil use is growing strongly in most regions, with a rise in emissions from cars and lorries, including in the US and Europe. Flights have also contributed to the oil rise. Gas use has grown almost unabated in recent years.

CO2 emissions from deforestation and other human activities on land contributed an additional 5 billion tonnes of CO2 this year, bringing total CO2 emissions to 41.5 billion tonnes of CO2. The global trends in those emissions are unclear due to large uncertainties in the data.

Concentrations CO2 in the atmosphere are set to increase by around 2.3 ppm on average in 2018 in response to continued CO2 emissions, to reach about 407 ppm over the year. This is 45% above pre-industrial levels.

The good news

Countering rising global emissions are 19 countries where emissions have reduced and their economy has grown. Aruba, Barbados, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK, the US, and Uzbekistan have all decreased their emissions over the past decade (2008-2017).

Deployment of renewable energy worldwide is accelerating exponentially, with electricity generation growing at 15% per year on average over the last decade. But this has not been enough to offset the growth in fossil energy because renewables are growing from a low base. This is changing rapidly.

How different countries compare

Almost all countries have contributed to the rise in global emissions, either through growth in emissions or through reductions that are slower than expected.

China’s emissions account for 27% of the global total, having grown an estimated 4.7% in 2018 and reaching a new all-time high. The growth in emissions is linked to construction activity and economic growth. Energy from renewables is growing by 25% per year, but from a low base.

Emissions in the US account for 15% of the global total, and look set to have grown about 2.5% in 2018 after several years in decline. The new rise is due to robust growth in oil use of about 1.4%, associated with an increase in car journeys, and gas of about 7.6%. Emissions from coal use look set to have decreased by around –2.1% in 2018, continuing a shift away from coal, with a 40% decrease in CO2 emissions from coal since 2007, mainly towards gas, and more recently also towards renewables for power generation.

EU emissions account for 10% of global emissions and a small decline of around –0.7% is projected, well below the declines of −2% per year in the decade up to 2014. Estimated declines in coal and gas use due to the growth in renewable energy have been partially offset by a growth in oil use. The amount of fuel used for road transport and flights has surged by around 4% in the EU. Overall EU emissions are still near or above their 2014 levels.

India’s emissions, accounting for 7% of the global total, have continued to grow by around 6.3%, as their economy booms. Wind and solar are growing fast, albeit from a low base.

Emissions in the rest of the world, the remaining 42% of global emissions, are expected to grow about 1.8% this year. The five countries contributing most to the rest-of-the-world growth in global emissions in the last decade are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and South Korea.

Source: Global Carbon Project & University of East Anglia

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The power sector will play a crucial role in attaining the European climate targets, which aim to cut greenhouse gases by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 1990. Tracking progress in the power sector is hence of utmost importance. For the fourth year in a row, the second year in a row with Agora Energiewende, Sanbag has presented the state of the energy transition in the European power sector, to update what happened in 2017, with the report The EU Power Sector Review 2017, launched at the end of January in Brussels. Key topics include renewables growth, conventional power generation, power consumption, and CO2 emissions.

The report celebrates how the wind, sun and biomass overtook coal, in supplying electricity across Europe in 2017, but also highlights some of the failings of the current electricity transition, and gives a very mixed picture: EU renewables has been increasingly reliant on the success story of wind in Germany, UK and Denmark, which has been inspiring. But other countries need to do more. Solar deployment is surprisingly low, and needs to respond to the massive falls in costs. And with electricity consumption rising for the third year, countries need to reassess their efforts on energy efficiency.

But to make the biggest difference to emissions, countries need to retire coal plants. The study forecasts Europe’s 258 operational coal plants in 2017 emitted 38% of all EU ETS emissions, or 15% of total EU greenhouse gases. In 2017, Netherlands, Italy and Portugal added their names to the list of countries to phase-out coal, which is great. We need a fast and complete coal phase-out in Europe: the thought of charging electric cars in the 2030’s with coal just doesn’t compute. A 35% renewables target would make a 2030 coal phaseout possible.

Key findings include:

• New renewables generation sharply increased in 2017, with wind, solar and biomass overtaking coal for the first time. Since Europe‘s hydro potential is largely tapped, the increase in renewables comes from wind, solar and biomass generation. They rose by 12% in 2017 to 679 Terawatt hours, putting wind, solar and biomass above coal generation for the first time. This is incredible progress, considering just five years ago, coal generation was more than twice that of wind, solar and biomass.

• But renewables growth has become even more uneven. Germany and the UK alone contributed to 56% of the growth in renewables in the past three years. There is also a bias in favor of wind: a massive 19% increase in wind generation took place in 2017, due to good wind conditions and huge investment into wind plants. This is good news since the biomass boom is now over, but bad news in that solar was responsible for just 14% of the renewables growth in 2014 to 2017.

• Electricity consumption rose by 0.7% in 2017, marking a third consecutive year of increases. With Europe‘s economy being on a growth path again, power demand is rising as well. This suggests Europe‘s efficiency efforts are not sufficient and hence the EU‘s efficiency policy needs further strengthening.

• CO2 emissions in the power sector were unchanged in 2017, and rose economy-wide. Low hydro and nuclear generation coupled with increasing demand led to increasing fossil generation. So despite the large rise in wind generation, we estimate power sector CO2 emissions remained unchanged at 1019 million tonnes. However, overall stationary emissions in the EU emissions trading sectors rose slightly from 1750 to 1755 million tonnes because of stronger industrial production especially in rising steel production. Together with additional increases in non-ETS gas and oil demand, we estimate overall EU greenhouse gas emissions rose by around 1% in 2017.

• Western Europe is phasing out coal, but Eastern Europe is sticking to it. Three more Member States announced coal phase-outs in 2017 – Netherlands, Italy and Portugal. They join France and the UK in committing to phase-out coal, while Eastern European countries are sticking to coal. The debate in Germany, Europe’s largest coal and lignite consumer, is ongoing and will only be decided in 2019.

Source: Sandbag

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In line with its strong commitment to tackling the effects of climate change, Iberdrola has decided to complete the process of phasing out all its coal-fired power generation capacity worldwide. The technology represents 1.8% of the group’s total installed capacity of 48,062 megawatts (MW) and 1.5% of its electricity production for the first nine months of the year (1,596 GWh out of 102,494 GWh).To this end, the company has filed a permit application with the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Strategy to close the coal-fired power plants in Lada (Asturias) and Velilla (Palencia). Both of the assets are situated in Spain and represent a combined capacity 874 MW. With this decision the company ratifies its commitment to reduce its CO2 emissions intensity by 50% in 2030 and become carbon neutral in 2050.

Iberdrola group operates 28,778 MW clean capacity through renewable energy generation sources, mainly onshore and offshore wind (15,902 MW) and hydroelectric power (12,756 MW).

Last week, Iberdrola, together with other leading Energy companies, called upon European policy makers to embrace higher and more ambitious binding renewable energy targets for 2030 by raising the share of renewables in the final energy demand on the continent from the current target of 27% to 35%.

Once the remaining coal-fired plants are closed the company’s emissions-free capacity will stand at 68%. This figure rises to 76% in Spain, where the security of supply will not be impacted by this initiative thanks to the 5,695 MW back-up capacity in combined gas cycles the company operates.

Closure of the plants will not impact the company’s strong commitment to job stability since all the affected employees (90 at Lada and 80 at Velilla) will either be relocated to other facilities or will be engaged in their respective decommissioning process which will last for four years after approval of the closure by the Ministry of Energy, with an investment of €35 million.

Since 2001, the company has phased out 7,500 MW of thermal power capacity (see chart below) worldwide. In 2013 and 2016, Cockenzie and Longannet, two large power plants in the United Kingdom with a combined capacity of 3,600 MW, were closed. Also, between 2001 and 2012 over 3,200 MW of fuel-oil-fired plants were decommissioned in Spain.

Thanks to the progressive decarbonisation of its electricity generation mix, over the past 15 years Iberdrola has become a reference point in the global fight against climate change, having invested €90 billion in the process.

Today, it has become a global leader in onshore wind while bringing down emissions to 70% below its European peers, representing an improvement of 75% since the year 2000.

Commitment to fighting climate change

In 2009, Iberdrola approved its Policy to Fight Climate Change undertaking, among other measures, to support an ambitious global emissions reduction target; to promote the development of efficient technologies to bring down greenhouse-gas emissions; to advocate for an integrated and fair global emissions market while fostering the efficient and responsible use of energy involving all company stakeholders.

Also, and in order to reduce emissions, it is essential for Iberdrola that a strong signal on CO2 prices is given to markets, affecting all sectors of the economy. In addition, the company understands that with the right climate policies the fight to mitigate emissions and adapt to global warming are opportunities for economic growth.

Lastly, the company has been working as a key partner with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and has an active presence at COP23 which takes place in Bonn until 17 November.

Source: Iberdrola

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Swiss cleantech company Climeworks has partnered with Reykjavik Energy to combine direct air capture (DAC) technology for the world’s first time with safe and permanent geological storage. As part of the CarbFix2 project Climeworks will demonstrate a safe, economically-viable and highly scalable carbon removal technology. This type of solution has been recognized as a crucial component in efforts to achieve global warming targets.

The EU-backed collaborative research project centers around one of the world’s largest geothermal power plants in Hellisheidi, Iceland, where CO2 is currently injected and mineralized at an industrial scale. A Climeworks DAC module has been installed on-site to capture CO2 from ambient air for permanent storage underground, thus creating a carbon removal solution.

A testing phase has started during which the CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent to more than 700 meters underground. There the CO2 reacts with the basaltic bedrock and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution. Climeworks’ technology draws in ambient air and captures the CO2 with a patented filter. The filter is then heated with low-grade heat from the geothermal plant to release the pure CO2 which then can be stored underground.

During the trial Climeworks will test how its technology works with the specific weather conditions at the location in the South West of Iceland. The CarbFix2 project is a major step forward for DAC technology. Earlier this year the company made history with the world’s first commercially-viable DAC plant near Zurich which filters 900 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere and supplies it to a local greenhouse.

The CarbFix2 project

CarbFix2 has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and is led by Iceland’s multi-utility company Reykjavik Energy. It is based on the original CarbFix project, initiated in 2007. Further partners to CarbFix2 are The University of Iceland, CNRS (Toulouse, France) and Amphos 21 (Barcelona, Spain).

Source: Climaworks

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The private sector accounts for around half of Europe’s electricity consumption. Powering corporate consumers with renewable energy could deliver massive reductions in CO2 emissions, save businesses money and make it easier for people to invest in renewables.

Large energy consumers such as chemical and aluminium producers, ICT and food & drink companies gathered in Brussels last October, 11, with renewable energy producers to consider how to unlock this potential. The RE-Source 2017 event brought together industry leaders such as Google, Mars, IKEA and Alcoa with energy players EDF Energies Nouvelles, ENEL Green Power, Envision and Vestas with policy makers.

The volume of ’Corporate Renewable Power Purchase Agreements’ (PPAs) – which allow companies to purchase renewable energy directly from an energy generator – almost tripled in Europe in 2016, with over 1 GW of capacity contracted. Globally, more than 100 top companies have now committed to procure 100% renewable electricity via the RE100 initiative,together accounting for 150 TWh of yearly consumption.

Yet, in Europe, only a limited number of large corporates are involved in renewables sourcing and do so in only a handful of European countries, mainly Scandinavia and the UK.

Getting the EU’s Clean Energy Package right will be key to unlocking the massive growth potential of PPAs. Companies wanting zero-carbon power need to be able to trace the supply and prove that it’s renewable. They also need to value additionality criteria if they have been explicitly investing in new RES capacities, therefore contributing to the achievement of EU’s overall targets. To do this they need functioning Guarantees of Origin (GOs) that are effectively linked with RES producers and a system that values investments in additional renewable capacities. The European Commission’s proposal for a Renewable Energy Directive is insufficient in this regard, and this must be tackled by the European Parliament and Council in the next phase of the negotiations.

Furthermore, in many countries including Germany, it’s a grey area as to whether the law actually allows for PPAs. The new Renewables Directive would require governments to remove legal barriers to PPAs. A better legal framework would help PPAs spread into other markets, whilst more flexible contracts catering to the needs of SMEs would enable PPAs to flourish beyond the major corporates.

Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, said in this morning’s welcome session: “Wind energy producers can supply cheap power today thanks to significant reductions in technology and operating costs in recent years. Renewable PPAs help companies source the affordable power they want and at fixed prices reducing their exposure to volatile fossil fuel costs. But there are still barriers to PPAs. The Clean Energy Package is an opportunity to remove these and ensure PPAs can really flourish”.

Dr James Watson, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “Corporates are increasingly looking to buy solar power as a cost-effective and competitive source of energy across Europe. We must act now to encourage corporates and solar companies to work together, to accelerate the European energy transition and facilitate the growth of European solar power.

Source: WindEurope

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The buildings in which Europeans sleep, eat, shop, learn and work, house a great opportunity for energy saving and emissions reduction, particularly in the so-called technical systems: heating, DHW, cooling, ventilation and lighting. A recent study by energy consultancy Ecofys, sponsored by Danfoss, shows the energy saving that can be achieved by improving energy management in Europe’s buildings. This hitherto under-exploited potential is calculated to save €67bn on the annual energy bill of European citizens by 2030, while reducing CO2 emissions by 156 Mt. Documents have been published as part of the study that focus on different types of buildings. This article sets out the main conclusions of the study in the case of supermarkets, along with some of the more recent success stories from Danfoss in this sector on the Iberian Peninsula.

Buildings allocated to supermarkets in Europe occupy an approximate surface area of 115 million square metres. Part of the study included an assessment of the energy saving potential of a sample supermarket with a surface area of 1,025 m2 and a total energy consumption of 181 kWh/m2a. This sample building is equipped with a gas condensing boiler for heating (with energy recovery for the refrigeration system); mechanical ventilation systems with no heat recovery; a refrigeration and air conditioning system by means of compression chillers; and a direct and indirect lighting system via fluorescent tubes.

 

Improvements to the technical systems in this sample supermarket reveal the possibility of achieving a 45% saving in energy, which translates into just over 8,000 €/year, with an investment of some €36,000 that would be amortised in around 4.5 years. Read more…

Article published in: FuturENERGY July-August 2017

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Renewable energy targets and other support policies, now in place in 164 countries, powered the growth of solar, wind and other renewable technologies to a record-breaking energy generation capacity last year: about 135 GW of added renewable energy power increasing total installed capacity to 1,712 GW, up 8.5% from the year before.

Despite the world’s average annual 1.5% increase in energy consumption in recent years and average 3% growth in Gross Domestic Product, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2014 were unchanged from 2013 levels. For the first time in four decades, the world economy grew without a parallel rise in CO2 emissions.

The landmark “decoupling” of economic and CO2 growth is due in large measure to China’s increased use of renewable resources, and efforts by countries in the OECD to promote more sustainable growth including increased use of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“Renewable energy and improved energy efficiency are key to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius and avoiding dangerous climate change,” says REN21 Chair Arthouros Zervos, who released the new report at the Vienna Energy Forum.

Thanks to supportive policies now in place in at least 145 countries (up from 138 countries reported last year), worldwide power generation capacity from wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and hydro sources alone were up 128 GW from 2013. As of end-2014, renewables comprised an estimated 27.7% of the world’s power generating capacity, enough to supply an estimated 22.8% of global electricity demand.

Solar PV capacity has grown at the most phenomenal rate —up 48-fold from 2004 (3.7 GW) to 2014 (177 GW)—with strong growth also in wind power capacity (up nearly 8-fold over this period, from 48 GW in 2004 to 370 GW in 2014).

Global new investment in renewable power and fuels (not including hydropower >50 MW) increased 17% over 2013, to USD 270.2 billion. Including large-scale hydropower, new investment in renewable power and fuels reach at least USD 301 billion. Global new investment in renewable power capacity was more than twice that of investment in net fossil fuel power capacity, continuing the trend of renewables outpacing fossil fuels in net investment for the fifth year running.
Investment in developing countries was up 36% from the previous year to USD 131.3 billion. Developing country investment came the closest ever to surpassing the investment total for developed economies, which reached USD 138.9 billion in 2014, up only 3% from 2013. China accounted for 63% of developing country investment, while Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey each invested more than USD 1 billion in renewable energy.

By dollars spent, the leading countries for investment were China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Leading countries for investments relative to per capita GDP were Burundi, Kenya, Honduras, Jordan, and Uruguay.

The sector’s growth could be even greater if the more than USD 550 billion in annual subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear energy were removed. Subsidies perpetuate artificially low energy prices from those sources, encouraging waste and impeding competition from renewables.

Says Christine Lins, Executive Secretary, REN21: “Creating a level playing field would strengthen the development and use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Removing fossil-fuel and nuclear subsidies globally would make it evident that renewables are the cheapest energy option”.

Employment in the renewable energy sector is growing rapidly as well. In 2014, an estimated 7.7 million people worldwide worked directly or indirectly in the sector.

Despite spectacular growth of renewable energy capacity in 2014, more than one billion people, or 15% of humanity, still lack access to electricity. Moreover, approximately 2.9 billion people lack access to clean forms of cooking. With installed capacity of roughly 147 GW, all of Africa has less power generation capacity than Germany. Further attention needs to be paid to the role that distributed renewable energy technologies can play in reducing these numbers by providing essential and productive energy services in remote and rural areas.

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Solar powered systems save energy, reduce the CO2 emissions of the building and lead to an economic saving that facilitates their amortisation, especially in hotel installations characterised by high and more or less constant levels of DHW consumption all year round. However to achieve this, these systems have to be well-designed, simple structures using reliable and efficient technologies and equipment that minimise necessary maintenance actions.

For example, for a 4-star hotel with an occupancy of around 100 people a day, a solar installation could be designed to cover 60% of the needs arising from DHW demand by installing a solar powered system with a working surface area of about 60 m2 and 4,000 litres of accumulation. The energy obtained through this clean and renewable system would represent a saving in fuel that, in the case of natural gas, would amount to almost 2,700 € per year and would avoid the emission of 17,254 kg of CO2 per year into the atmosphere. To achieve these savings values, the equipment and the type of system to be implemented have to be very carefully selected to protect the solar installation from its main risks: over-heating and freezing.

ACV has over 15 years experience in the manufacture of solar powered systems and is leader in the design, development and commercialisation of Drain Back technologies for tertiary-type installations. ACV’s Drain Back system empties heat-bearing fluid from the collector tank in the event there is a risk of over-heating or freezing, stopping the pump. Using gravity, the fluid is emptied into the drainage tank and air rises through the collector field. The unit is automatically refilled when the situation returns to normal (activating the pump, letting air fill the drainage tank so that the liquid goes back into the solar collectors). Read more…

Gaspar Martín
ACV, Technical Director

Article published in: FuturENERGY June 2015

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