The growth of solar energy will lead to the expansion of renewable energy sources within the next 10 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook 2020 published on Tuesday, clean energy will account for 80% of global electricity demand growth over the next decade.
Clearly hydroelectricity remains the largest renewable energy source, but solar is the main source of ever-increasing energy, followed by onshore and offshore wind energy.
The development of solar energy will be supported by maturation policies and technologies that will allow very cheap access to capital in the leading markets.
In fact, according to the report, solar energy is consistently cheaper than new coal-fired or gas-fired power plants, while solar projects offer some of the lowest electricity prices ever recorded.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said:
“I see solar energy as the new king of global electricity markets. Under current policy arrangements, solar energy is well on its way to setting a new annual growth record after 2022. If governments and investors step up their efforts for clean energy under the Sustainable Development Scenario, the growth of both solar as well as wind energy will be even more spectacular – and extremely encouraging to meet the global climate challenge. “
The report states that the Sustainable Development Scenario demonstrates how to get people on the right track to achieving the goals of sustainable energy.
However, he stressed that the significant growth of renewable energy sources should be combined with strong investments in electricity networks, otherwise the networks will prove to be the weak links in the transformation of the electricity sector, affecting the reliability and security of electricity supply.
