Renewables have become more mainstream, increasing installations globally by over 36 per cent, since the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) was formed in Abu Dhabi.
“When we started out just over five years ago, many were not convinced of the need for the energy transformation,” said Adnan Amin, Irena’s director general. “But developments during the past few years have exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic supporters.”
Falling costs plus growing innovations have positioned renewables as an economical choice for power utilities, companies and individual consumers. The amount of installed renewable energy installed globally is just under 2,000 gigawatts (GW) from 1,456GW in 2011. And last year alone the world added a record amount of renewable energy applications added to the tune of 152GW, according to Irena.
Another record was broken last year as US$286 billion was invested in the renewable energy sector, which the organisation points to as a strong signal that this field is now the preferred option for new power generation capacity around the world.
Looking ahead, Irena will implement the Pan-Arab Renewable Energy Strategy 2030 to promote the integration of a greater share of renewable electricity in regional power systems. Irena said that it was finalising a comprehensive gap analysis, and based on the findings the agency would conduct regional stakeholder consultations in the first half of next year to identify key pillars for the implementation of the initiative.
Mr Amin said that as the energy paradigm evolves to include more renewables, this transform will “revitalise economies and life people out of poverty”. He said: “The pace of this change will only accelerate.”
Irena began its journey in 2011 with 75 original signatory countries, but now members include 149 nations with another 27 in the process of gaining membership.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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