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Green Globe: Europe can meet global energy demand with potential wind capacity

SNL Image
Europe has an onshore wind potential of 52.5 TW, which can meet global energy demand until 2050.
Source: Associated Press

If Europe can realize in full its potential onshore wind capacity, the continent, including Russia and Turkey, could supply enough energy to meet global demand until 2050, according to a new analysis from the U.K.'s University of Sussex and Denmark's Aarhus University.

The study analyzed all suitable sites for onshore wind farms, naming Norway, Russia and Turkey as having the greatest potential.

Realizing this potential would mean installing 52.5 TW of capacity across the continent. The study estimates that more than 11 million additional wind turbines could be theoretically installed over 5 million square kilometers of suitable terrain.

"Obviously, we are not saying that we should install turbines in all the identified sites but the study does show the huge wind power potential right across Europe which needs to be harnessed if we're to avert a climate catastrophe," co-author Benjamin Sovacool, professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex, said of the study, which was published in the September volume of Energy Policy.

"The study is not a blueprint for development but a guide for policymakers indicating the potential of how much more can be done and where the prime opportunities exist," Sovacool added.

The European Union has set a new binding target for its members of achieving at least 32% renewable energy by 2030 to help meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change. Member states are required to finalize their 10-year national energy and climate plans by the end of this year, which outline how they plan to meet the new renewable energy target. The target includes a clause for a possible upwards revision by 2023.

In another study, researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Mälardalen University, in Sweden, and Tsinghua University in Beijing have concluded that it is now possible to build solar projects in 334 cities in China without subsidy, according to Carbon Brief.

Solar in these areas has achieved grid parity, where it can be generated at the same costs as electricity from the Chinese grid through a combination of technological advances, cost declines and government support, the study found. The country's faster-than-expected achievement of grid party is due to government subsidies and over-investment in "redundant construction and overcapacity," the authors wrote in the study, which was published Nature Energy.

Now, the Chinese government is planning to wean the solar industry off government support in an effort to shift focus from scale to quality. In May 2018, authorities announced solar subsidy reductions, imposing caps and reducing feed-in tariffs mechanism.

A recent report from pv tech, however, indicates a possible reinstatement of the solar subsidies following discussions with the industry. The researchers are in support of future solar subsidies at cities that need it the most.

According to Nikkei Asian Review, China has already overtaken the U.S. and Japan in leading solar and wind energy generation in terms of capacity and companies' share of global markets.

The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association, or VDMA, is calling on the return of solar module manufacturing to Europe, saying it could be profitable again based on a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

The German industrial lobby said solar module production could be competitive again in Germany and in Europe with a manufacturing fab that has a production capacity of at least 5 GW per year, or one-thirtieth of the currently installed global production capacity of around 150 GW.

Investment of more than €1 billion is needed to build the production fab, which would create several thousand direct and indirect new jobs, the study found.

"Securing the energy supply in the age of climate protection means having [photovoltaic] cells and modules in sufficient numbers. However, the first supply shortages for solar modules, which are mainly produced in Asia, are already becoming apparent. A new dependency is emerging for Germany and Europe, although the technological competence is available here," said Jutta Trube, head of VDMA photovoltaic equipment.

Elsewhere

* Global private markets investment manager Partners Group AG has invested A$500 million in the 244-MW Bango Wind Farm in New South Wales, Australia. Partners Group and partner CWP Renewables Pty Ltd. selected GE Renewable Energy to supply turbines for the project.

* Genneia SA signed a US$51 million long-term financing agreement for the construction of the 38-MW Necochea wind farm in Argentina.

* Montenegro's Ministry of Economy is inviting investors to submit bids for the lease of land for the construction of a wind farm with a minimum installed capacity of 70 MW in the municipalities of Budva and Bar.

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