Latest news with #cleanpower
Arab News
19 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Global energy investment to hit record $3.3tn in 2025: IEA
RIYADH: Energy investment globally is projected to hit a record $3.3 trillion in 2025, driven by a surge in clean power spending amid economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, according to an analysis. In its latest report, the International Energy Agency said that technologies in the sector, including renewables, nuclear, and storage, are set to attract $2.2 trillion in investment. Investments in oil, natural gas and coal are set to reach $1.1 trillion this year. The uptick in clean energy spending aligns with the wider trend observed globally as most nations, including oil-rich countries in the Middle East, have set net-zero targets to reduce emissions and combat climate change. Saudi Arabia plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, while the UAE aims to reach the goal in 2050. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, said: 'Amid the geopolitical and economic uncertainties that are clouding the outlook for the energy world, we see energy security coming through as a key driver of the growth in global investment this year to a record $3.3 trillion as countries and companies seek to insulate themselves from a wide range of risks.' He added: 'The fast-evolving economic and trade picture means that some investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach to new energy project approvals, but in most areas we have yet to see significant implications for existing projects.' Electricity takes the lead IEA said that investment trends in the sector are being shaped by the onset of the 'Age of Electricity' and the rapid rise in demand for industry, cooling, electric mobility, data centers and artificial intelligence. A decade ago, investments in fossil fuels were 30 percent higher than those in electricity generation, grids and storage. In 2025, electricity investments are set to be some 50 percent higher than the total amount being spent bringing oil, natural gas and coal to market, reaching $1.5 trillion. In April, another report by the IEA also highlighted the growing demand for electricity globally driven by the rapid rollout of AI and data centers. At that time, the think tank said electricity consumption by data centers powered by AI is expected to double by 2030 to reach 945 terawatt-hours, creating new challenges for energy security and carbon dioxide emission goals. IEA added that electricity consumption by data centers has increased by 12 percent annually since 2019 to reach 1.5 percent of the global amount in 2024. Data centers are a growing user of electricity. Shutterstock Clean energy surge According to the report, spending on low-emission power generation has almost doubled over the past five years, led by solar PV. The energy agency projected that investment in solar, both utility-scale and rooftop, is expected to reach $450 billion in 2025, making it the largest single item in the world's energy investment inventory. 'Fierce competition among suppliers and ultra-low costs are seeing imported solar panels, often paired with batteries, become an important driver of energy investment in many emerging and developing economies,' said the IEA. Battery storage investments are also climbing rapidly, surging above $65 billion this year. Saudi Arabia has also set ambitious goals to generate clean energy, primarily using solar power. The Kingdom plans to generate 58.7 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, with 40 GW from solar PV. It also plans to generate 16 GW from wind energy and 2.7 GW from concentrated solar power. This commitment is part of the broader National Renewable Energy Program strategy, aimed at diversifying its energy portfolio and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. IEA added that capital flows to nuclear power have grown by 50 percent over the past five years and are on course to reach around $75 billion in 2025. The US and the Middle East accounted for nearly half of a resurgent level of final investment decisions for natural gas power. Saudi Arabia is also planning to include nuclear energy as a key part of the Kingdom's energy mix. In January, the Kingdom's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the nation is planning to begin enriching and selling uranium. Launched in 2017, Saudi Arabia's National Atomic Energy Project is a cornerstone of the Kingdom's strategy to diversify its energy sources. If investments in carbon capture, utilization and storage move ahead as planned, spending in this sector will rise more than tenfold by 2027 from current levels, the IEA added. 'Low-emissions fuel projects are particularly prone to policy uncertainty. Some hydrogen projects have been canceled or delayed in the past 12 months, but there remains a pipeline of approved projects that require around $8 billion of investment in 2025, almost double the level seen in 2024,' said the report. In November, NEOM Green Hydrogen Co.'s CEO Wesam Al-Ghamdi told Arab News that Saudi Arabia is on track to begin production in the world's largest green hydrogen project by 2026. The plant, located in the Kingdom's $500-billion giga-project, will rely entirely on solar and wind energy to power a 2.2-GW electrolyzer designed to produce hydrogen continuously. Grid investment gap Spending patterns in the energy sector remain very uneven globally, according to the IEA. Shutterstock According to the IEA, investment in grids — now at $400 billion per year — is failing to keep pace with spending on generation and electrification. 'Maintaining electricity security would require investment in grids to rise toward parity with generation spending by the early 2030s. However, this is being held back by lengthy permitting procedures and tight supply chains for transformers and cables,' said the energy agency. The report further said that lower oil prices and demand expectations are set to result in the first year-on-year fall in upstream oil investment since the COVID-19 slump in 2020. The expected 6 percent drop is driven mainly by a sharp decline in spending on US tight oil. However, investment in new liquefied natural gas facilities is on a strong upward trajectory as new projects in the US, Qatar, Canada and elsewhere prepare to come online. The report added that the global LNG market is set to experience its largest-ever capacity growth between 2026 and 2028. Geographical shifts According to the IEA, spending patterns in the energy sector remain very uneven globally — with many developing economies, especially in Africa, struggling to mobilize capital for energy infrastructure. The report added that Africa accounts for just 2 percent of global clean energy investment, despite being home to 20 percent of the world's population. 'To close the financing gap in African countries and other emerging and developing economies, international public finance needs to be scaled up and used strategically to bring in larger volumes of private capital,' said the IEA. China is the largest global energy investor by a wide margin, and its share of global clean energy investment has risen from a quarter 10 years ago to almost one-third now. Even though well behind China, the IEA added that energy investment trends in India and Brazil stand out among emerging and developing economies. 'Mobilising international finance for clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies will need to be combined with the development of domestic capital markets,' added the energy agency.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Bill for switching off wind farms hits £500m
Payments related to switching off wind farms in 2025 so far are equivalent to £3.3m a day – or £136,000 per hour. A row is growing in the energy industry over how to tackle the issue, with the Government currently looking at options to reform the market. One idea being considered is a break-up of the existing national market into different regions, or zones, that would see each part of the country pay a different price for electricity based on local supply and demand. This would mean the amount paid to wind farms in Scotland when there is too much power being generated would fall dramatically. It would also probably result in higher energy prices for households in London, southern England and the Midlands, given that these are areas where renewables are in short supply. Wind farms that were curtailed on Tuesday included the Seagreen offshore wind farm in the North Sea – the largest of its kind in Scotland – which was switched off for nearly three quarters of the time it was meant to operate last year. Investment fears Wind farm developers Scottish Power and SSE have argued that reforming the market will make it far harder to predict future revenues and could create huge uncertainty – potentially holding up major investment decisions on new schemes. This would also put the Government at risk of missing its 2030 clean power target, which requires huge amounts of generation capacity to be installed in the next five years. On Wednesday, a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: 'The National Energy System Operator's independent report shows we can achieve clean power by 2030 with cheaper electricity, even factoring in constraint payments. 'Through our clean power action plan, we will work with industry to rewire Britain, upgrade our outdated infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid and minimise constraint payments.' A spokesman for Neso, which manages the electricity grid, said: 'Neso takes its role to deliver a safe, secure and reliable national electricity network at least cost to consumers, extremely seriously. 'We are constantly looking for new ways to reduce costs associated with balancing electricity supply and demand on a second-by-second basis, as these costs are passed on to consumers in their electricity bill.'
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Could Miss 2030 Clean Power Goal, Parliament Committee Warns
The UK's goal of a clean power grid by 2030 is in danger of slipping out of reach as planning delays and infrastructure bottlenecks challenge the government. The ambition requires 'building more energy generation and network infrastructure at a faster pace than Great Britain has managed in recent years,' according to a report from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee published on Wednesday.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Public share offer set to launch at Shropshire solar farm
A community energy group is set to launch a second public share offer to invest in a solar farm in and Telford Community Energy (STCE) is offering people the chance to invest in clean, green power through a share scheme for Twemlows solar farm. Profits from the farm near Whitchurch have already helped fund village halls, cinemas and more — and this next phase could see £3m generated for good causes across the offer launches on Friday 6 June. STCE took ownership of the 10MW solar farm in December 2023. It said the share offer would enable the public "who care about climate change" to invest their money to tackle the issue said the offer will also allow STCE to pay off some of its loans, adding it will: "strengthen its ownership of the solar farm".Treasurer of STCE, Dave Green, told BBC Radio Shropshire the launch would significantly increase the amount of money the site would generate for community said: "Our target is to raise around £500,000. Securing our community ownership will enable us to distribute around £3m in community benefit over the next 16 years, including setting up new community energy schemes."The Twemlows share offer is not just supporting a cleaner, greener and fairer future, it will directly benefit local community projects for many years to come."The public share offer is being launched at an event at the Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, on Friday between 10:00 BST and 13:00 BST. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Congress Could Unravel Biden's Climate Law. Here's What to Watch.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has narrowly passed a giant tax and spending bill that would end Inflation Reduction Act subsidies for clean power years early. The proposed changes threaten to unravel a variety of incentives that would result in higher prices for everything from electricity to solar panels.
