Latest update April 8th, 2025 7:13 AM
In five years solar energy will dominate electricity market – IEA Director
– Cites economic and environmental benefits
By Renay Sambach
Kaieteur News – Executive Director, of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Dr Fatih Birol, last Tuesday stated that within the next five years solar energy is forecasted to dominate the electricity market.
At the launch of the IEA’s new Report Renewables 2022, Dr Birol disclosed that by 2027 “Solar will be the king of global power markets.”
During his address, he explained that at a time when the world is facing one of the worst energy crises, it has opened a door and shows the need for Governments to accelerate a clean energy transition.
Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
Dr. Birol highlighted that in addition to the climate commitment which comes as a result of transitioning to renewables, solar has great economic benefits given that “renewable energy is way cheaper.” “In addition to, of course climate commitment, many countries have been pushing and the key drivers of renewables we are seeing are two new elements. These two new elements are turbo charging the renewables growth,” the Director said.
He further stated, “Energy security many countries around the world see renewables now as an option to address the energy security concerns…”
Another driver he stated is that the cost of renewables came down significantly in the last few years making it more competitive than fossil fuels. “The high and volatile fossil fuel prices, gas, coal make renewables competitive, even more competitive when it comes to electricity generation. High oil prices make biofuels in the transportation sector even more attractive.”
Dr. Birol explained that the acceleration of solar energy is impressive and that it is driven by solar installations in India, China, Europe the United States. “In the year 2027, in five years of time, the latest solar and I am not saying renewables all together, only solar will be the number one source of electricity in the world.”
“To see such a big growth of solar is very good news for many reasons from energy security, to economic benefits, from economic benefits to environmental benefits,” he added.
The first global energy crisis, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has sparked unprecedented momentum for renewables.
The IEA examines the full spectrum of energy issues including oil, gas and coal supply and demand, renewable energy technologies, electricity markets, energy efficiency, access to energy, demand side management and much more. Through its work, the IEA advocates policies that will enhance the reliability, affordability and sustainability of energy.
According to the Agency, fossil fuel supply disruptions have underlined the energy security benefits of domestically generated renewable electricity, leading many countries to strengthen policies supporting renewables.
It was highlighted too that higher fossil fuel prices worldwide have improved the competitiveness of solar PV and wind generation against other fuels.
The IEA report shows that renewable capacity expansion in the next five years will be much faster than what was expected just a year ago.
“Over 2022-2027, renewables are seen growing by almost 2 400 GW in our main forecast, equal to the entire installed power capacity of China today. That’s 85 percent acceleration from the previous five years, and almost 30 percent higher than what was forecast in last year’s report, making it our largest ever upward revision,” it was stated in the new report.
Notably, renewables are set to account for over 90 percent of global electricity capacity expansion over the forecast period.
On the local front, back in September Guyana signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to utilise US$83.3M from the Norway forest funds to build eight solar projects across the country.
Notably, the Government of Guyana (GoG) is also currently pursuing a US$2 billion gas-to-energy project which is to be built at Wales, West Bank Demerara. Back in October, Kaieteur News had reported that a 2022 report by the United Nations (UN) warned against the US multi-billion gas-to-energy project adding that solar and wind are the ‘cheaper’, better energy option for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.
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