BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 27. Global annual capacity additions of wind electricity generation need to increase to almost 250 GW, which more than doubles 2020’s record growth, to reach the estimated 7,900 TWh in 2030, Trend reports via the latest publication from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“The amount of electricity generated by wind increased by almost 273 TWh in 2021 (up 17 percent), 45 percent higher growth than that achieved in 2020 and the largest of all power generation technologies. Wind remains the leading non-hydro renewable technology, generating 1,870 TWh in 2021, almost as much as all the others combined,” the report said.
As the European Commission increased its renewable energy target further to 45 percent from 32 percent by 2030, the capacity of wind energy, both onshore and offshore has to grow sufficiently, the IEA noted.
“Aligning with the Net Zero Scenario’s wind power generation level of about 7,900 TWh in 2030 calls for an average expansion of approximately 18 percent per year during 2022-2030. After the exceptionally high capacity additions of 2020-2021, the deployment is expected to stabilize in the coming years, highlighting the need for strong efforts to get on the Net Zero Scenario trajectory,” the agency noted.
Political support remains the main driving force behind the deployment of wind power globally. Various policies stimulate capacity growth, including auctions, feed-in tariffs, differentiation contracts and renewable energy portfolio standards, the IEA explained.
Meanwhile, several policy changes and targets, such as the Chinese 14th Five-Year Plan, US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the EU’s further increase in renewable energy deployment target, and India’s ambitions to boost total non-fossil capacity and electricity generation from renewables by 2030, will contribute to the global wind energy growth in the long term, the Agency concluded.
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