BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
After staying flat in 2020, global power sector investment is set to increase by around 5 percent in 2021 to more than USD 820 billion, Trend reports with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“Renewables dominate investment in new power generation and are expected to account for 70 percent of 2021’s total of USD 530 billion spent on all new generation capacity. Investment in grids and storage makes up the remainder. Thanks to rapid technology improvements and costs reductions, a dollar spent on wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment today results in four times more electricity than a dollar spent on the same technologies ten years ago,” IEA said in its latest report.
The agency noted that renewable investment has thrived in markets with well-established supply chains where lower costs are accompanied by regulatory frameworks that provide cash flow visibility – and where lenders and financiers that understand these sectors well are seeking sustainable projects to support.
“Demand from the corporate sector for clean electricity to meet sustainability targets has also played a role. Much of the spending resilience in 2020 was concentrated in a handful of markets, most notably the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”), which saw a remarkable year for wind power investment, as well as the United States and Europe. For the fifth consecutive year, capital spending in the power sector in 2020 was higher than for oil and gas supply. Electrification was also a major driver of investment spending by final consumers. Electric vehicle sales continue to surge along with a proliferation of new model offerings by automakers, supported by fuel economy targets and zero-emissions vehicle mandates,” reads the report.
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