There is a growing demand for electricity across the world, and in the first half of 2022, renewable energy was capable of meeting 100% of that increase.
As the world moves to electrify everything, whether it’s their means of transport or their heating, demand for electricity is growing at a rapid pace. In fact, according to the Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2022 from Ember, a global energy think tank, there was a 389 TWh increase in the demand for electricity in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021.
Thankfully, the growing demand for electricity isn’t putting an increasing amount of pressure on our fossil fuel generators, with the growth in renewable generation exceeding the growth in electricity demand.
In fact, according to Ember, while electricity demand increased 389 TWh, the onslaught of renewables coming online in the first half of 2022 meant that generation from solar, wind and hydroelectric grew 416 TWh.
The increase in renewables is not only good news for the planet, but also for the wallets of consumers during the energy crisis. Renewable energy generation is currently cheaper than alternative sources, such as gas, as the war in Ukraine and the embargoes against Russian gas has pushed up prices.
The growth in wind and solar in the first half of 2022 prevented a 4% increase in fossil generation. This avoided $40 billion in fuel costs and 230 Mt CO2 in emissions. In China, the growth in wind and solar enabled fossil fuel power to fall 3%, rather than rise by 1%. In India, it slowed down the rise in fossil fuel power from 12% to 9%. In the US, it slowed down the rise in fossil fuel power from 7% to 1%. In the EU, it prevented a major rise in fossil fuel power – without wind and solar, fossil generation would have risen by 16% instead of 6%.
There are some concerns within the industry that fossil fuels may see a comeback in the second half of 2022, however. That’s because demand is likely to increase further in the winter, while renewable generation could slow. Many countries across the globe are warning of a tough winter ahead for the energy sector, with the National Grid in the UK warning of power cuts lasting up to three hours in a worst case scenario.
We’re already seeing an increase in demand for fossil fuels, even outside of the winter months. According to Ember’s report, in July and August there was a rise in global coal and gas generation, leaving open the possibility that power sector CO2 emissions in 2022 may yet rise, following last year’s all-time high. This happened because China’s hydro surplus turned into deficit due to record droughts, and heatwaves struck across the world, pushing up electricity demand.
Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, Senior Electricity Analyst at Ember, commented, “Wind and solar are proving themselves during the energy crisis. The first step to ending the grip of expensive and polluting fossil fuels is to build enough clean power to meet the world’s growing appetite for electricity. We can’t be sure if we’ve reached peak coal and gas in the power sector. Global power sector emissions are still pushing all-time highs when they need to be falling very quickly. And the same fossil fuels pushing us into a climate crisis are also causing the global energy crisis. We have a solution: wind and solar are homegrown and cheap, and are already cutting both bills and emissions fast.”
