Energy

Offshore Wind Can Power The World, Say Former Skeptics


Offshore wind could generate 11 times more electricity than the world needs and could attract $1 trillion in investment by 2040, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In the report released today, the IEA states that “the untapped potential of offshore wind is vast,” and that “the promising outlook for offshore wind is underpinned by policy support in an increasing number of regions,” including Northern Europe and China.

Based on its assessments, the agency says offshore wind could potentially generate a whopping 420,000 terawatt-hours of electricity globally per year. The agency previously calculated that humanity consumed 23,000 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2018.

The report notes, however, that harnessing the full potential of offshore wind will require governments to get fully on board with new and developing technologies and approaches. “Government policies will continue to play a critical role in the future of offshore wind and the overall pace of clean energy transitions around the world,” the report says.

Among its predictions, the agency forecasts that China is likely to have the world’s largest offshore wind fleet by 2025, overtaking the U.K., currently the world leader. The IEA believes China’s offshore wind capacity will rise from 4 gigawatts today to 110 gigawatts by 2040.

The report carries particular weight not just for the enormous claims being made of wind power, but also because the IEA was long seen as skeptical about the potential of renewable energy.

In his foreword to the report, International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol notes that while offshore currently generates only 0.3% of global power, “its potential is near limitless. Improved technology and steep cost reductions are putting more and more of that potential within our reach.”

The report has been released ahead of the agency’s larger annual report, “World Energy Outlook 2019,” which will be published on November 13.

The report ought to be an eye opener for both industry observers and renewable energy campaigners: the IEA was for many years unconvinced of the potential of renewable energy sources, including wind, to produce sufficient energy for the world’s needs. In 2000, renewables were little more than an “also-ran” category in the agency’s report for that year. In that report, the IEA declared that non-hydro renewables would make up a 3% share of world energy generation by 2020. That figure was reached in 2008.

Now, with the agency declaring that a single source of renewable energy could provide more power than we can use, it would appear there is a sea-change afoot.



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