Page - 153 - in Clean Water Using Solar and Wind - Outside the Power Grid

Economy 153 1.2 (WEC, 2016). Because of the intermittent production in off-grid installations the cost for storage must be considered. For our applications onshore wind power is the most interesting. This  technology is reaching cost competitiveness against conventional power generation technologies (WEC, 2016, Chapter 10). Therefore, within the wind power profession most attention today is paid to technology developments in the offshore applications. It is estimated that the global LCOE of onshore wind is likely to decrease up to 26% between 2016 and 2025, mainly due to lower installation costs, higher capacity factors and declining operation and maintenance costs. Higher hub heights, rotor diameters and turbine rating will account for most of the decline in the LCOE of onshore wind. It should be noted, however, that large-scale installations have the highest potential for cost reductions. Wind projects are developed with an assumed operational lifetime of 20–25 years. 12.2 JOB OPPORTUNITIES In interviews with experts on renewable energy they have been asked how many jobs will be needed for the renewable energy industry by 2050, given that 8.1 million are employed today (see Figure 12.1). Among the experts, 73% believe that more than 25 million jobs will be needed and 41% estimate that more than 45 million jobs will be required (REN21, 2017a). Utilities in sub-Saharan countries and in south Asia will in the future serve two main customer segments. One is the many people living in urban areas in the developing world where electric power is delivered via a complex system of highly intertwined and often unrelated wires. These systems mostly have high network losses and many customers are unable to pay according to the power tariffs. The other category is all the people living in off-grid, remote areas. Many of these regions get support today from non-governmental organisations and local entrepreneurs. Utilities ought to spend more effort to bring off-grid electricity to these Millions of jobs will be needed in the renewable energy sector. Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book-pdf/520710/wio9781780409443.pdf by IWA Publishing user