Wind’s making a comeback in Europe

Germany looks to repower onshore wind in bid to reach renewable targets

Longtime renewable energy leader Germany will turn to repowering old onshore wind turbines to help its ambitious renewable energy goals in an effort to boost profitability as support mechanism are coming to an end, a recent Rystad Energy analysis shows. The country’s National Energy & Climate Plan (NECP) last year set a target to source 65% of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and also 30% of Germany’s overall energy needs over the same period. As a result, Germany now plans to increase its installed wind capacity to as much as 71 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind and 20 GW offshore by 2030.

Polish utilities switch to offshore wind to reduce coal use

Polish energy players PGE, Polenergia and PKN Orlen are looking to become the next European utilities to step up their energy transition efforts with gigawatt-scale renewable energy projects and targets. Renewables growth will mainly come from offshore wind, with a combined 6.7 GW set to be operational by 2030. After a subdued period of renewables growth following new onshore wind development regulations in 2016, such commitments to other renewable energy sources are needed if Poland – one of Europe’s traditional coal strongholds – is to reach its 2050 carbon neutrality target. PGE leads the Polish renewables market thanks to legacy capacity in pumped storage installed in the 20th century.

UAE renewable capacity on track to increase four-fold to 9 GW by 2025 

With a bevy of energy goals, the UAE is laying the groundwork to leverage its outstanding solar resource and drive renewable capacity to 9 gigawatts (GW) in just five years – a four-fold increase. In response to growing energy demand in the region, the country has set itself short, medium and long term targets which will increase the share of renewable energy in its power generation mix from 7% in 2020 to 21% in 2030, and to 44% by 2050. Previous targets for 2020 have already been achieved, and a robust project development pipeline suggests that the 2030 target is within reach. It is too early to predict the achievability of the country’s 2050 target, but the resilience and determination shown by the UAE’s renewable sector amidst Covid-19 will surely make it attractive for investors and developers alike. This, together with some of the world’s lowest power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, suggests that 2050 targets are well within reach.  

The fundemental storage mechanism to support China's carbon-neutral plan

As China pivots from a thermal energy dominated power grid to clean energy, a storage mechanism needs to be established to manage the more variable supply of renewable energy. In this commentary, Rystad Energy analyzes the current and future role of pumped storage in China’s energy grid. Pumped storage is by far the most mature method of energy storage, and plays a significant shifting and balancing role, not only for intraday load shifting but also seasonality. China currently has nearly 32 gigawatts (GW) of pumped storage in operation, but a lot more is needed in order to reach the goal of carbon-neutrality by 2060. Taking into account all existing feasibility study plans, site selection plans, and projects under construction in each province, Rystad Energy estimates that China will have 130 GW of pumped storage in 2050.

Pumped storage is the most cost-effective solution due to its long life cycle, high energy conversion efficiency (80-90%), and low storage cost. The first pumped storage power station in China was opened in 1968, with a capacity of 11 megawatts (MW). More construction of pumped storage power stations in China began in the late 1980s. At the end of 2020, China had 31.53 GW pumped storage in operation, which occupies 93.7% of the Chinese operating storage market.

Highlights from Renewable Energy Trends Report December 2020

November registered over 30 GW of new renewable energy project announcements, bringing the cumulative tally of proposed capacity this year to 307 GW. 

Green hydrogen soared in 2020, with 50 GW of new projects proposed this year. Governments are racing to incentivize projects for domestic and export markets – working hard to attract the billions of dollars expected to be invested over the coming years.

M&A activity in November kept pace, with another 8 GW transacted world-wide. Despite being the lowest month since May, it is still more than double the M&A activity of November in 2019.

The United States was the biggest market for PPA announcements in November, representing 49% or 1.53 gigawatts (GWAC) of all contracted capacity for the month. Shell and EDP’s Mayflower offshore wind farm accounted for 48% of this capacity.

See Gero Farruggio's, Head of Global Renewables, present key take aways from this months Renewable Energy Trends Report in the video below.