What was 2022 like for renewable energy?
This extremely severe winter is unlike any Europe has seen before. It’s made worse by both the energy shortage and economic struggles, happening while we’re trying to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic. Russian gas supplies have dropped by over 80% this year. As a result, prices have shot up dramatically – in Ukraine, they’re as much as 15 times what they used to be. This has caused huge problems for businesses and regular life. The IMF warns that this could lead to a big recession in Europe.
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, has stepped in as the main alternative to Russian gas. However, the cost of LNG has more than doubled in 2022. On top of this, the prices for electricity that’s bought and sold in large quantities have gone way up. The energy crisis has gotten worse due to Europe experiencing its driest period in 500 years. Rivers are so low that a fifth of Europe’s hydropower production had to be stopped. Even some nuclear power plants had to lower their output to prevent overheating rivers with warm water they released.
So, how did these things affect the growth of renewable energy in 2022? Let’s hear what Anthony Agnew, the head of Green Deck, thinks. Green Deck is a fund that helps out with sustainable energy and the start of wind, solar, and battery projects in Western Europe. They work with clients into renewable energy all over the world – Greece, the UK, Spain, Italy, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, the US, and Latin America.
Renewable energy in 2022
According to Agnew, even with all the big economic changes happening, this year has been super important for renewable energy. There have been new laws made, more money put into new technology, and quicker work on getting projects going.
“When Ukraine got taken over at first, it did slow things down a bit for the renewable energy field. But then, just two months later, folks saw that energy costs were going up a lot. And it seemed like these high prices were going to stick around for a while – at least in the not-so-long-term. This is what we’re all expecting for the next few years.”
Renewable energy and power generation are counter-cyclical, so there is no up-and-down trend like, for example, stocks; we always need energy, and energy demand usually goes up anyway. Now there is more demand and a greater return on investment in renewable energy projects.
Anthony Agnew
“It’s not just that investors are feeling okay about things; actually, renewable energy has been one of the best-performing industries across the world? And this is just one piece of the bigger picture. On top of that, lots of governments are speeding up these changes. [Green Deck is based in the UK, but they’re active worldwide – remember that.]
Agnew points out that new laws have given a big push to planning for renewable energy in the long run.
“Look at the US law against inflation. It’s all about keeping things going for the long haul. This could have a massive impact in the US. It’s really cool that, because of this hard time, things can get better.
And then there’s the news from the COP, which is a meeting about dealing with climate change. In 2018, New Zealand said ‘no’ to any new mining projects at sea. Just this April, Quebec in Canada said ‘no more’ to letting companies dig up oil and gas. That’s huge, especially since Canada is one of the top five places making oil and gas. This is a big deal. People are getting into the game, there are rewards and punishments, and we’re seeing more and more of this.”
Speaking from his position at the forefront of renewable energy progress, Agnew shares that the number of people taking up renewable energy is growing quickly and surely.? So, in more markets, more folks want to get into renewable energy, and more money is being put into this field. The whole industry is getting bigger. In places where the sun shines well, like southern Spain, there will be more focus on using sunlight to make power more concentrated. Agnew explains that when you store heat in special salts, you can keep making power for an extra 4 to 8 hours, and maybe even end up with almost a whole day of power.
Agnew thinks we’ve got the tech to meet about 80% of our power needs with renewable sources, without relying on non-renewable stuff? “We’ve got primary energy, which is stuff like nuclear plants that keep making energy non-stop. Then we’ve got energy that doesn’t come all the time, like wind and sun – they only make power when it’s windy or sunny. And batteries help balance out this stop-and-go power.”
I believe it is absolutely possible to switch to powering the world with fully sustainable sources. It’s just a matter of building momentum and also building these large networks of people that come together to make it happen. The ball is already rolling. We just need more people to push it and help clear obstacles out of the way. We already have the technologies we need.
Anthony Agnew
Original text:
How 2022 Changed The Game For Renewable Energy, forbes.com