The problem of evacuation of wind energy has also been overcome with the completion of the Green Energy Fund Corridor distributed through German Development Bank to strengthen evacuation of wind energy by installing five 400 kilo volt (KV) substations including at Thappugundu, Anaikadavu and Rasipalayam, and 540 kilometres of transmission lines.
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Wind and solar were the standout technologies of the report, with a total of 118GW of new capacity added over the year, blitzing the next highest annual figure of 94GW in 2014.
EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) yesterday announced it lead the USA market in terms of new wind energy capacity additions in 2015 and captured a market share of 12%. An important spin-off from this drive is the establishment of a local renewables industry FT underlined adding that officials say they want to establish Morocco as a hub for renewable energy develop industrial capacity in the sector and even begin exporting energy in the coming decades. The investment comes following an unprecedented worldwide boom in renewables in 2014 that suggested some countries are shifting dramatically toward low-carbon energy. India was among the top 10 investors, putting in $10.2 billion, 22% more than the previous year.
Renewables, excluding large hydro, still represent a small minority of the world’s total installed power capacity (about one-sixth, or 16.2%) but that figure continues to climb (up from 15.2% in 2014).
The US was up 19$ to $44.1 billion (nearly Rs 2.93 lakh crore), and in Japan investment was much the same as the previous year at $36.2 billion (nearly 2.4 lakh crore).
The researchers believe this shift in investment towards developing countries and away from developed economies may be attributed to several factors: China’s dash for wind and solar; fast-rising electricity demand in emerging countries; the reduced cost of choosing renewables to meet that demand; sluggish economic growth in the developed world and cutbacks in subsidy support in Europe.
But despite notching up some “striking” numbers and exciting firsts, the report stresses that new clean energy technologies still only account for just over 10 per cent of world electricity generation, thanks to the “huge weight” of conventional capacity already built. Dr. Udo Steffens, President of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. “Without further policy interventions, climate altering emissions of carbon dioxide will increase for at least another decade”.
In Texas, the second phase of the combined-cycle Panda Temple Power Station (734MW) and three combustion turbine plants totaling 716MW (Ector County Energy Center, Montana Power Station, and Elk Station) came online.
“While two big deals do not make a trend, the signs are that more will follow”.
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“However, commitments made by all nations at the Paris climate summit in December, echoing statements from last year’s G7 summit, require a very low or no-carbon energy system”, Steffens said.
