Wind and solar to produce over a third of global power by 2030 – report

Solar panels in Geldermalsen, Netherlands June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File photo

LONDON  – Wind and solar projects are on track to account for more than a third of the world’s electricity by 2030, signaling that the energy sector can achieve the change needed to meet global climate goals, a report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) said on Thursday.

Sultan al-Jaber, president of the next UN climate summit, COP28, earlier this year called for a tripling of renewable energy generation by 2030 to curb greenhouse gas emissions and help reach goals set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Exponential sector growth means wind and solar projects are predicted to generate at least 33 percent of global electricity, up from around 12 percent now, leading to a fall in fossil fuel-powered generation and cheaper power, the RMI report showed.

The RMI, a U.S.-based non-profit organization focused on clean energy, carried out the research in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion fund created by Amazon owner Jeff Bezos to help fund solutions to climate change.

The cost of solar power, which is already the cheapest form of electricity production, will fall as low as $20 per megawatt hour (MWh) from about $40 MWh currently, as more projects are deployed and economies of scale improve, the report said.

“The benefit of rapid renewable deployment is greater energy security and independence, plus long-term energy price deflation because this is a manufactured technology – the more you install the cheaper it gets,” said Kingsmill Bond, Senior Principal at RMI.