Page - 29 - in Clean Water Using Solar and Wind - Outside the Power Grid

The renewable energy revolution 29 148 377 805 1,174 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1994–2004 2005–10 2011–16 2017–22 Growth in GW 28 45 68 82 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1994–2004 2005–10 2011–16 2017–22 % solar and wind (a) (b) Figure 3.1 (a) Total renewable energy capacity growth (in GW) in four periods. The 2017–2022 growth is predicted. Most of the growth is in wind, solar and hydro. (b) The percentage of solar and wind in the total renewable power growth. Data source IEA (2017b). China is the undisputed leader of renewable energy with more than 40% of the world’s renewable capacity growth. One important driving force is the concern about air pollution. China surpassed its 2020 solar PV target in 2017, and it is expected that the wind target for 2020 will be reached in 2019 (IEA, 2017b). Chinese government agencies note that in the first half of 2017, renewables accounted for 70% of new capacity added (a sharp increase from 52% in 2016), thermal sources (mainly coal) 28% and nuclear just 2%. In late 2017 Beijing announced plans to stop or delay work on 95 GW of planned and under-construction coal- fired power plants, so the 70% renewables figure is set to see a healthy boost (Mathews & Huang, 2018). 3.2 OFF-GRID DEVELOPMENTS Renewable electric power production in 2015 was dominated by large- scale generation (MW-scale and up). However, the market for small-scale generation outside existing power grids has been taking off. Bangladesh is the world leader in solar home systems. Small-scale renewables, mainly for lighting, are increasing rapidly in many developing countries, notably in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in Africa, China, India and Nepal in Asia, and Brazil and Guyana in Latin America (REN21, 2017a). Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book-pdf/520710/wio9781780409443.pdf by IWA Publishing user