BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 26. Global annual renewable energy use, excluding bioenergy, needs to increase by 13 percent from 2022 through 2030 to reach net zero targets, Trend report via the latest publication from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the agency, 2022 is expected to be a record year for global renewables deployment with the REPowerEU and the US Inflation Reduction Act coming into force.
“Still, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and ocean energy use needs to expand significantly faster to get on track with the Net Zero Scenario. These sources need to increase their share of total energy supply from just over 5 percent today to approximately 17 percent by 2030. To achieve this, annual renewable energy use (not including bioenergy) has to increase at an average rate of about 13 percent during 2022-2030, twice as much as over 2019-2021,” the report noted.
As the agency suggests, policymakers should focus on long-term plans to decarbonize the entire economy and introduce incentives that reflect the requirements of all sectors of the economy.
“Policy instruments used to support renewable power include administratively set feed-in tariffs or premiums, renewable portfolio standards, quotas and tradeable green certificate schemes, net metering, tax rebates and capital grants,” the IEA explains.
Timely connection to electricity grids and continued implementation of competition policy are necessary to achieve further reduction of costs for offshore wind energy. To accelerate their deployment, renewable energy technologies need to be made more competitive through supportive policies, the report noted.
Meanwhile, as the agency noted, long and complex permitting processes impede the deployment of new renewable capacities, especially in Europe.
“Due to complicated requirements, responsibility split between multiple government agencies and understaffing, the development of renewable energy projects can take up to 10 years. Establishing one-stop shops, providing clear guidance for developers and increasing support of public agencies in site identification should be considered by policy makers to remove the permitting bottlenecks,” the IEA concluded.
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