More People Have Access to Electricity Than Ever Before, but World Is Falling Short of Sustainable Energy Goals (World Bank)
Despite significant progress in recent years, the world is falling short of meeting the global energy targets set in the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030. Ensuring affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 remains possible but will require more sustained efforts, particularly to reach some of the world’s poorest populations and to improve energy sustainability, according to
a new report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA) the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2016, renewable electricity consumption increased by almost 8%. The share of renewables grew by 1 percentage point to reach 24%. This is the fastest percentage point growth since 1990 and more than double that of 2015. Three
key developments drove this trend. First, Latin America continued to recover from a severe drought, with Brazil’s hydropower generation growing by 3.5% in 2016. Second, China had record-level wind capacity growth in 2015 that
became fully operational in 2016. Third, solar PV consumption grew by 30% as both China and the United States doubled additions between 2015 and 2016.
Hydropower remained the largest source of renewable electricity, accounting for 68% of all renewable electricity consumption in 2016. However, it played a much smaller role than in 2010 (down from 82%) due to the rapid increase of solar PV and wind generation, which grew ten- and threefold over the same period, respectively. This rapid growth was mainly driven by policy support around the world and recent cost reductions. Since 2010, generation costs of solar PV declined on average by 80% and onshore wind by 20%.
The shift from government-set tariffs (feed-in tariffs, premiums) to competitive renewable energy auctions with long-term power purchase agreements played an important role in accelerating the cost reductions. Auctions also helped governments contain renewable support costs through volume control mechanisms. Still, wind remained the second-largest source of renewable electricity, followed by bioenergy, solar, geothermal, and ocean technologies.
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