Renewables to play greater role in boosting energy access by 2030 - IEA

Raising electricity access globally will be done increasingly with the help of renewable energy sources in the years to 2030, and less with coal, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts.

Coal and other fossil fuels have been the primary new sources for electricity access since 2000, but renewables are gathering speed. In the last five years, green energy accounted for a third of new connections, while by 2030 renewables are expected to bring new electricity access for three-in-five people.

The “Energy Access Outlook: from Poverty to Prosperity” report includes an “Energy for All” case in which the IEA calculates that ensuring universal access by 2030 would require USD 31 billion (EUR 26.2bn) in annual investments. This is less than 2% of global energy investment. Most of the investments will go to renewable energy, in terms of technology, and to sub-Saharan Africa, in terms of geography.

IEA’s historical analysis for 140 countries reveals that in 2016 there were 1.1 billion people without access to electricity, which is a reduction from 1.6 billion in 2000. Many countries in Asia are progressing well towards universal energy access by 2030, including India which is expected to get there in the early 2020s. Still, in 2030 IEA expects 674 million to remain without electricity access, 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The good news is that a convergence of political will and cost reductions is accelerating progress,” IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol commented. “Just look at India, which has provided electricity access to half a billion people since 2000.”

Birol further said that policy-makers must place clean cooking at the top of the agenda, as progress there has been very slow. Currently, about 2.8 billion people use biomass, coal and kerosene for cooking, and the number has not changed much since 2000. In 2030, it is expected that 2.3 billion people will still have no access to clean cooking.

“The goals of meeting energy access for all, reducing air pollution and meeting global climate targets go hand in hand,” said Birol.

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