WORLDNEWS
Solar to supply a quarter of world’s energy needs
SOLAR electricity could represent up to 20% to 25% of global electricity production by 2050. This finding emerges from two analyses by the International Energy Agency (IEA): the solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) roadmaps, launched in Valencia/Spain, during the Mediterranean Solar Plan Conference hosted by the Spanish presidency of the EU.
“It is particularly appropriate to present the two solar roadmaps in Valencia today, given that Spain has taken a leading role globally in promoting solar power and other forms of renewable energy,” said Mr. Tanaka. “The combination of solar photovoltaics and concentrating solar power offers considerable prospects for enhancing energy security while reducing energy-related CO2 emissions by almost six billion tonnes per year by 2050.”
The roadmaps detail the technology milestones that would make this possible, highlighting that the two technologies will deploy in different yet complementary ways. PV mostly for on-grid distributed generation in many regions and CSP providing dispatchable electricity at utility scale from regions with brightest sun and clearest skies. PV also helps provide energy access off grid in rural areas. Together, PV and CSP could generate 9000 Terawatt hours of power in 2050.
“This decade is crucial for effective policies to enable the
development of solar electricity,” Mr. Tanaka said. “Long-term oriented, predictable solar-specific
incentives are needed
to sustain early deployment and bring both technologies to competitiveness in the most suitable locations and times.”
With effective policies in place, PV on residential and commercial buildings will achieve grid parity - i.e. with electricity grid retail prices - by 2020 in many regions. PV will become competitive at utility-scale in the sunniest regions by 2030 and provide 5% of global electricity. As PV matures into a mainstream technology, grid integration and energy storage become key issues. The PV industry, grid operators and utilities will need to develop new technologies and strategies to integrate large amounts of PV into flexible, efficient and smart grids. By 2050, PV could provide more than 11% of global electricity.
The IEA expects CSP to become competitive for peak and mid-peak loads by 2020 in the sunniest places if appropriate policies are adopted. Its further expansion will depend on the
Does bureaucracy hinder industry?
THE PV LEGAL CONSORTIUM launched the largest online database, gathering detailed quantitative and qualitative data on project development processes and bureaucratic barriers hampering the set- up of photovoltaic (PV) systems, in 12 EU countries.
The PV LEGAL project, an initiative co- funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Commission, has published today the result of six months of intense research in 12 EU countries which aimed at providing a thorough research and analysis of all the steps and costs incurred in order to
comply with administrative and legal requirements when setting up a PV system in one of these countries. Although most EU countries recognise the potential of solar PV and implement support policies the national PV market is not yet expected to grow to its full potential due to bureaucratic hurdles.
In each country, the research has been conducted by surveying the necessary procedures to be complied with for the three main market segments: a) small- scale installations on residential buildings; b) small to medium-scale installations on commercial buildings and c) medium to
large-scale ground-mounted installations on open lands. For each segment the project development processes have been identified and described in detail.
The PV LEGAL database is a tool that provides both market actors and policy makers with a detailed analysis of the situation and allows highlighting the best practices and existing bottlenecks. As a next step the project partners will address recommendations to policy makers and grid operators in the main European PV markets by means of advisory papers as well as national forums (conferences) and ad-hoc workshops.
development of dedicated transport lines that will bring CSP electricity to a greater number of large consumption centres. Thanks to thermal storage, CSP can produce electricity around the clock and will become competitive with base load power by 2025 to 2030. North America, North Africa and India will be the largest producers of CSP with North Africa exporting about half its production to Europe, the second largest consumer. The overall contribution of CSP could - like that of PV - represent 11% or more of the global electricity demand by 2050.
Mr. Tanaka concluded in noting that “solar PV and CSP appear to be complementary more than competing. The firm capacity and flexibility of CSP plants will help grid operators integrate larger amounts of variable renewable electricity such as solar PV and wind power. PV will expand under a broader range of climate conditions and bring clean renewable electricity directly to end-users.”
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www.solar-pv-management.com Issue III 2010
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