New analysis from Frost & Sullivan forecasts that global installed capacity of renewable energy will double from 1,566 GW in 2012 and reach 3,203 GW in 2025 at an average annual growth rate of 5.7 percent.
It is expected that over the 2012-2025 period, solar photovoltaic technology will record major growth with 33.4 percent of total renewable energy capacity additions.
Succeeding in the list of renewable assets will be wind energy at 32.7 percent, ahead of hydro power at 25.3 percent.
The remaining 8.6 percent of capacity additions will consist of other renewable technologies.
It is observed that economic difficulties in many parts of the world are affecting the outlook for renewable energy.
The feeble economic situation of Western world has made an impact on support schemes, which normally keeps renewable energy installations alive until grid parity is achieved.
On the other hand, the emerging economies have slowly started conquering renewable energy installations, achieving the target and grid parity.
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In particular, regions such as Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa have recorded increased renewable energy capacity growth due to the urbanization, population growth, energy security concerns and strong economic development.
The decline in the cost of renewable energy due to technological innovation and scale economies achieved through mass deployment has enabled developing countries to adopt these technologies.
The report also predicts that global solar power capacity is due to increase from 93.7 GW in 2012 to 668.4 GW in 2025.
However, growth prospects of the concentrated solar power (CSP) market has been weakened due to huge price falls in technology, while solar PV is experiencing a thriving growth.
In the wind power market, offshore wind will see dull growth than expected due to political support withdrawal in Europe.
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The global wind capacity will hit 814 GW in 2025 from 2012 level of 279 GW, with small-scale wind turbines exploring new application possibilities.
In the global bioenergy and waste segment, Europe will be the leading country. However, future capacity expansion in this field will be arising from Southeast Asia, Australasia, North America, Turkey, Iceland and Kenya.
Beyond 2025, marine power will be accepted widely due to support from government for emerging technologies.
Sabeena Wahid
editor@greentechlead.com