Global Wind Report 2021:
The report warns that there is a need to install new wind power capacity three times faster by the next decade in order to achieve global climate targets & limit global warming to below 2°C above the pre-industrial levels.
- In the year 2020, 93 GW of new capacity were installed. It is a 53% year-on-year increase.
- But this is not sufficient to ensure that the world will achieve net-zero emission target by 2050.
- As per the report, the total global wind power capacity is up to 743GW now. This is helping the globe to avoid over 1.1 billion tonnes of CO2 annually.
- It is equal to the annual carbon emissions of South America.
- The report warns that the world needs to install a minimum of 280 GW of new wind energy per year in a bid to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
- Thus, industry & policymakers need to act fast to accelerate deployment.
- It underlines that Governments across the globe must work with a ‘climate emergency’ approach to eliminate red tape and planning delays. Government must expand grid infrastructure to scale-up wind power at the required pace.
- Wind power is a cornerstone to achieve a net-zero emission target and power a green recovery because it is cost-competitive and a resilient power source which is having the most decarbonization potential per MW.
- According to the report, technology innovations and economies of scale have quadrupled the global wind power market in size in the past decade.
- Growth in 2020 was driven by installations on large scale in China and the US which are the two largest wind power markets in the world.
- Both countries have over half of the total wind power capacity and they accounted for 75% of new installations in 2020.
