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Nearly half the world’s electricity will come from renewable energy by 2050 as costs of wind, solar and battery storage continue to plummet.
According to a report released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance on 18 June 2019, since 2010, the cost of wind power has dropped by 49%, and solar has plummeted 85%, according to BNEF. That makes them cheaper than new coal or gas plants in two-thirds of the world. Battery storage costs, meanwhile, have dropped 85% since 2010.
Coal will be the biggest loser in the power sector, with its share of global generation plunging from 37% today to 12% in 2050, BNEF said. The move away from fossil fuel has sweeping implications for energy markets and the fight to stave off climate change.
Wind, solar and batteries are poised to enable the power sector to meet its share of emission cuts required under the Paris climate agreement, at least until 2030, according to BNEF. Those other renewables could include geothermal systems, fuel cells and devices that harvest energy from ocean waves and tides. But it’s unclear which, if any, will be economical to deploy on a mass scale. And other low-emission technologies could be developed between now and 2030.
That titanic shift over the next three decades will come as electricity demand increases 62% and investors pump $13.3 trillion into new projects, the report states.
Europe is taking the lead on the shift to renewables, which will supply 92% of the region’s electricity by 2050. China and India, which are still adding coal plants to their grids, will both get almost two-thirds of their power from mostly solar and wind by then.The U.S. will get just 43% of its power from renewables by 2050, according to BNEF.
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