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Annual renewable capacity additions reach highest level since 1999

Oil&Gas Materials 11 May 2021 15:20 (UTC +04:00)
Annual renewable capacity additions reach highest level since 1999

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

In 2020, annual renewable capacity additions increased 45 percent to almost 280 GW – the highest year-on year increase since 1999, Trend reports citing the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Despite pandemic-induced supply chain challenges and construction delays, renewable capacity additions in 2020 expanded by more than 45% from 2019, and broke another record. An exceptional 90 percent rise in global wind capacity additions led the expansion. Also underpinning this record growth was the 23 percent expansion of new solar PV installations to almost 135 GW in 2020.

Policy deadlines in China, the United States and Viet Nam spurred an unprecedented boom in renewable capacity additions in 2020. China alone was responsible for over 80 percent of the increase in annual installations from 2019 to 2020, as onshore wind and solar PV projects contracted under China’s former FIT scheme, and those awarded in previous central or provincial competitive auctions, had to be connected to the grid by the end of 2020. In the United States, wind power developers rushed to complete their projects before expiration of the production tax credit (PTC), although it was extended for another year, in December 2020. In Viet Nam, phaseout of the FIT for solar PV projects led to an unprecedented rush in commercial and residential installations.

The rush to commission projects prior to policy deadlines in these countries took place in the last quarter (Q4) of 2020, especially in December. In fact, developers connected almost 150 GW of new renewable capacity in Q4 of 2020 – more than double the number of gigawatts commissioned in Q4 of 2019 and exceeding the amount installed in the first three-quarters of 2020. Overall, IEA quarterly deployment estimates indicate that the slowdown in renewable capacity additions was limited to Q1 2020 only, mainly in China, while construction activity continued strongly in the rest of the world despite continuous movement restrictions and supply chain delays. The December surge in new installations also indicates that solar and wind construction supply chains were able to furnish record numbers of projects in China, the United States, Viet Nam and various European countries.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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