WEMO24-Compiled Report-Interactive compressed (002) 4154-7882-8116 v.1 - Flipbook - Page 45
Global
Outlook
2023 was a record year for the installation of new renewable
production capacity.
Year on year, these new capacities increased by 14% with a
larger capacity expansion of solar (32%) than wind (13%). Solar
PV alone accounted for three-quarters of renewable capacity
additions worldwide. China commissioned as much solar PV as
the entire world did in 2022, while its wind additions also grew
by 66% year-on-year.
There has been a revival in nuclear power, with a burgeoning
number of large and small reactors potential projects, finally
recognising the fact that nuclear power does not emit
greenhouse gases.
Consequently, when compared with the previous year, energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1% in 2023.
Renewables intermittent sources of energy increase poses
a problem on grid balancing. Thus, there is a need to increase
sensors deployment on the grid and in customer premises,
storage capacity, low emission dispatchable generation as
nuclear or pumped Hydro Storage, and cover heating demands
with more storable green heat produced with biomass or
geothermal energy.
Intermittent renewables penetration rate in electricity
generation lead to more frequent episodes of negative prices,
which in turn is hampering the future profitability of new
renewable or nuclear power generation capacity, which have
a high CAPEX component.
If there is too much renewables generation, grid operators
curtail the surplus. Using this free electricity to produce green
hydrogen (by water electrolysis) would help to bring down its
cost. However, these electricity input variations are causing
problems to electrolysers functioning and are accelerating their
ageing.
WEMO 2024
In 2023 and 2024, geopolitical tensions increased with the
continuation of the war between Russia and Ukraine following
the unjustified invasion of Ukraine and tensions in the Middle
East following the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians on October
7, 2023. These tensions have led many countries to increase their
military budgets They have also resulted in a global economic
slowdown.
Despite these tensions, commodity and energy prices have
not generally risen. On the contrary, spot electricity and gas
prices fell significantly in early 2024 in Europe, while demand
remained stagnant. The price of certain strategic metals such
as lithium has dropped by a factor of 2.5.
However, at the same time, fossil fuels consumption rose by
1.5% in 2023, driven by growth in developing countries and
China.
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General conclusion
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