IEA "New Renewable Power Capacity Must Double to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2050"

This Year’s New Renewable Energy Generation Capacity 290GW... Total Renewable Energy Generation Expected to Reach 4800GW by 2026

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Major foreign media outlets reported on the 1st (local time), citing the International Energy Agency (IEA) annual report, that the scale of newly installed renewable energy generation capacity worldwide this year is expected to reach a record high of 290GW.

The IEA predicted that this year’s new generation capacity will surpass last year’s record of 280GW. However, it explained that the current total renewable energy generation capacity is around 3000GW, which is still small compared to the 4800GW capacity of fossil fuel and nuclear power generation. It also emphasized that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, renewable energy generation capacity must increase at twice the currently expected pace.

The IEA stated that recent rises in raw material prices are also driving up the costs of solar panels and wind turbines, which could pose short-term variables for renewable energy investments.

In this regard, Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, said, “While energy supply shortages are clearly hindering the expansion of renewable energy, they are also showing the potential for renewables.” He explained, “The cost competitiveness of renewable energy is much greater than that of fossil fuels, and some countries are increasing nuclear power again,” adding, “A new global energy system is emerging.”

He viewed that rising energy prices could actually accelerate the transition from fossil energy to renewable energy. Birol emphasized, “Efforts to replace fossil fuels with eco-friendly energy should not be blamed as the cause of rising energy prices.”

Birol also stressed that at the recent 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in early last month in the United Kingdom, it was unmistakably confirmed that the fossil fuel era is coming to an end. However, he expressed regret that the final statement changed the wording from coal phase-out to coal reduction.

[Photo by Reuters-Yonhap News]

The IEA predicted that the expansion speed of renewable energy generation capacity will accelerate. Within five years, renewable energy generation capacity is expected to reach the current combined level of fossil fuel and nuclear power generation capacity, which is 4800GW. This would represent an increase of more than 60% compared to the current total renewable energy generation capacity.

Also, as governments worldwide adopt strong climate change measures and policies to expand new and renewable energy, the IEA expects that 95% of the new generation capacity added by 2026 will be renewable energy.

The IEA forecasted that China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, will reach 1200GW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2026, four years earlier than originally planned. It also predicted that greenhouse gas emissions will peak and begin to decline before 2030. India’s future new renewable energy generation capacity is expected to grow twice as fast as the expansion scale from 2015 to 2020.

However, the IEA stated that renewable energy generation capacity is still far from sufficient to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The IEA diagnosed that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the new renewable energy generation capacity must be nearly twice as much as the current forecast, which expects growth until 2060.

Birol said that to expand new and renewable energy, governments need to increase support for the renewable energy sector and provide investment incentives. He also emphasized the importance of advanced countries and financial institutions bearing costs to help developing countries close coal-fired power plants. At COP26, developed countries signed an $8.5 billion agreement with South Africa to assist in the early closure of South Africa’s coal power plants.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.