Renewables now account for over a third of new connections in 5 years – IEA

The International Energy Association (IEA), an energy think tank making a universal case for energy efficiency has reported that renewables are catching up quickly to conventional power sources especially coal, providing more than a third of new connections in the last five years.

This shift is expected to accelerate in coming years, and by 2030 renewables are set to provide new electricity access for three-in-five people, according to a new analysis from the International Energy Agency which finds that the most cost-effective strategy for providing universal access to electricity is through renewables.

Universal energy access is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by 193 countries to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030. The report highlights the associated costs and benefits of such a strategy, underscoring the central role of energy in meeting human and economic development goals.

The new report titled Energy Access Outlook: from Poverty to Prosperity, was part of the World Energy Outlook-2017 series, and provides a first-of-its-kind historical analysis for 140 countries and shows that the number of people without access to electricity fell to 1.1 billion in 2016, down from 1.6 billion in 2000.

It is “Energy for All” case, the report showed that providing universal access by 2030 would require an investment of $31 billion per year, equivalent to less than 2% of global energy investment.

“The overwhelming majority of this extra investment would need to be directed to sub-Saharan Africa, and most of it to renewables. The investment required for clean cooking facilities, including liquefied petroleum gas, is modest and amounts to less than one-tenth of the total,” says the report.

The report says there are many benefits to achieving energy for all. Women will save one hour per day when they do not need to collect fuelwood, freeing up the equivalent of a workforce of 80 million people, while reduced household air pollution will prevent 1.8 million premature deaths per year.

It would also not cause a net increase in global greenhouse gas emissions. While energy demand and related CO2 emissions would increase by minimal levels (about 0.2%), this would be more than offset by net reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions that result from lower use of biomass for cooking.

Many countries in are well on track to reach universal energy access by 2030, India is on course to reach that goal by the early 2020s. Despite this progress, 674 million are set to remain without electricity access in 2030, 90% of which live in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The good news is that a convergence of political will and cost reductions is accelerating progress,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director. “Just look at India, which has provided electricity access to half a billion people since 2000. The government’s tremendous efforts over the last several years have put it on track to achieve one of the biggest success stories ever in electrification.”

“The goals of meeting energy access for all, reducing air pollution and meeting global climate targets go hand in hand,” said Birol. “Energy for all is achievable and our ambitious strategy shows how countries can build on existing policy and technology success stories to accelerate access at the lowest cost.”

“But to achieve the same results as we have with electricity, policy-makers must also place clean cooking at the top of their agenda,” said Birol. “With its years of experience on energy and development analysis, and its robust energy policy and technology expertise, the IEA is ready to support governments in Africa, Asia and elsewhere meet these goals.”

ISAAC ANYAOGU