More than 140 gigawatts of solar and wind generation capacity were added globally last year, as solar PV consolidated its role as the growth engine of the renewables market, new figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) show.
Among renewable technologies, wind remains second only to hydropower in its installed base, with 564 gigawatts in operation compared to solar’s 480 gigawatts, IRENA said.
But the solar market is now regularly lapping wind on the global stage, with installations hitting a record 94 gigawatts last year, IRENA said, in spite of a policy-induced slowdown in the critical Chinese market.
The global wind market has been flat in recent years, holding steady just below 50 gigawatts of new installations in 2018.
However, many corners of the global wind market are vibrant. Onshore wind has proven itself the lowest cost option for new power generation in a growing number of markets globally, and developers are increasingly finding ways to build projects without subsidies.
The U.S. wind market is set for what is likely to be its biggest two-year growth period on record as developers race to make use of the fading federal production tax credit. Meanwhile, the offshore wind market continues to gain traction in markets beyond Europe, notably in China, where nearly 2 gigawatts were added last year, IRENA’s figures show.
2019 biggest yet for solar
But the biggest renewables market by far these days is solar. Analysts at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables believe the global solar market will crack the 100-gigawatt mark for the first time this year – a level the wind market has never come close to achieving.
WoodMac analysts have described a number of positive signals for the global solar market in 2019, from clarity on China’s approach to supporting the sector to an increasingly diversified global market that’s less reliant on Chinese demand in the first place
The global solar market will crack the 100-gigawatt mark for the first time this year, at 103 gigawatts, according to Wood Mackenzie – a level the wind market has never come close to achieving.
Costs continue to fall rapidly in the solar industry, including in the U.S. market in spite of the Trump administration’s import tariffs. Those costs declines are setting the global market up for a rhythm of annual installations in the 115 gigawatts to 120 gigawatts range in the early 2020s, Wood Mackenzie forecasts.
Non-renewable generation capacity has expanded by an average of 115 gigawatts per year since 2000, IRENA said. The stronger growth of wind and solar in recent years means that renweables are eating up a larger and larger share of the global market for new power plants, going from 25 percent of new capacity in 2001 to 63 percent in 2018, a new record.
All told, the world added 171 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity last year, 84 percent of it wind and solar. Hydropower remains the world's largest source of renewable power, but China was the only country that added hydroelectric capacity in volume last year, and it paled compared to its wind and solar additions.
Abu Dhabi-based IRENA uses numbers from a variety of sources, including the Global Wind Energy Council and SolarPower Europe.
from GTM Solar https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/140-gigawatts-of-solar-and-wind-capacity-added-in-2018-irena-says
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