“we find the opportunity to play a pivotal role in the next chapter of renewable
power generation highly motivating ”
Investment companies
such as Terra Firma meet the environmental challenge by INGMAR WILHELM, FINANCIAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, TERRA FIRMA
Europe faces three major challenges in determining its future energy policy: ensuring an affordable supply, increasing energy independence and combatting climate change. Renewable energy can make a major contribution to help Europe achieve all of these goals.
Because renewables are naturally replenished, the energy they provide is free. The major cost involved in renewable power generation is the upfront investment. Thereafter, low maintenance costs and zero fuel costs ensure energy supply for the long- term and at a very predictable cost. In the years up to 2020, the predominant technologies that produce renewable energy today – hydro, onshore wind, and solar photovoltaic – are forecast to supply even more energy to the total energy mix and to be cost-competitive compared to traditional fuel sources in many countries around the world.
Renewables also have a decisive role to play in
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enhancing Europe’s energy security. As renewable energy is in most cases generated and consumed locally, increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix reduces every country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, mitigating the risks posed by volatile fuel prices and supply disruptions.
And, of equal importance, renewables offer an unrivalled ecological footprint compared to all traditional sources of power generation. Europe recently demonstrated its commitment to a more sustainable energy supply through a binding emission reduction target of 40% of 1990 levels by the year 2030. The countries of the European Union also agreed that at least 27% of Europe’s energy should be supplied from renewables by 2030. This represents an additional move in the right direction, although the target is not yet binding at the national level.
Renewables have already become a fundamental
component of the energy mix in many countries. They now account for approximately 1600 GW of power generation capacity installed globally. The amount of electricity they produce is equivalent to the share of global gas-fired power generation, at nearly 22%. In the UK, 15% of power generation already comes from renewable sources, and it is even higher in countries such as Germany, at 26%, and Italy, at more than 30%.
Reaping the substantial benefits of renewables and achieving emissions targets will require building scale and improving operations and development among existing, mature technologies to further drive down costs and achieve ever higher levels of efficiency. It will also require developing new renewable technologies to further enlarge the energy mix.
To meet these challenges, the market will need to find new sources of continuous investment in renewable technologies. We are at an
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