Magazine Archive 04 – 2022

Last month saw global PV installations pass the one-terawatt mark, and electrons generated from solar in 2021 amounted to more than one petawatt-hour – that’s one quadrillion kilowatt-hours, or 3.1% of the world’s electricity.

It seems that one global emergency is not enough for us to deal with – as if we needed two or three crises at the same time. The impending climate catastrophe was already enough of a challenge, and the Covid-19 crisis still has us firmly in its grip. And now, a new global problem in Ukraine is affecting our everyday lives and international markets.

Nearly 300GW of renewables were estimated to have gone online globally in 2021. Renewable energy installations worldwide are increasing rapidly and as this happens, there is greater need for a wide range of energy storage applications like ancillary services, capacity firming, and energy arbitrage. Jackson Cutsor, senior analyst at IHS Markit (now part of S&P Global), expects new opportunities for energy storage to go hand in hand with renewable energy, and for the industry’s rapid rate of expansion to continue.

With countries setting net-zero emission targets for 2050-60, renewable energy demand is growing robustly. Amid energy transition trends, PV InfoLink’s Albert Hsieh expects global PV demand to surpass 230GW this year. Strong demand is mainly sustained by China, which released several supportive policies last year, as well as energy transition-driven markets such as the United States. The Russia-Ukraine war is also accelerating Europe’s need to wean itself off its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and thus renewables demand looks increasingly strong on the continent.

As Germany and other countries accelerate their plans for 100% renewables in the face of an unfolding energy crisis, Timo Moeller – the managing director of NovaSource Power Services – argues that the industry will need to adopt cutting-edge solutions in the operation and management of power plants if renewable sources are to provide the secure, reliable energy infrastructure needed to replace fossil fuels at the center of our energy systems.

Various visions exist of the disruption that the transition to cleaner, cheaper electricity sources will have on energy markets and supply. Critics anticipate expensive chaos, while advocates see a powerful new network emerging. Serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and energy futurist Bill Nussey has put his thoughts together in a new book, “Freeing Energy,” and pv magazine USA’s Tim Sylvia met the author to discuss its findings.

Australia’s most powerful energy industry participants have actively resisted the move to a low-carbon economy. Now, the country known as a sandbox for technology has become a sandbox for a new model for decarbonization – one which has seen billionaires and giant fund managers sidestep politics to use the free market in strategic and potentially disruptive ways. pv magazine Australia’s Bella Peacock reports.

When setting out France’s new solar goals, President Emmanuel Macron singled out agriPV as an application that has a big role to play in the country’s energy future. In an attempt to lay the groundwork for the application’s growth, a number of French solar companies have come together to define what is meant by agriPV and how it should best be applied. KiloWattsol founder Xavier Daval reports.

There are many ways to make waves in this world. In fact, there are approximately 20 different methods of engineering waves in the nascent but rapidly growing market of surf parks. But one thing is certain: Beyond the ocean, you can’t make waves without lots of energy.