Bloomberg New Energy Finance

While the solar and storage pairing is still relatively new, the growth over the next five years will be significant globally. As against just 5% in 2019, by 2025 more than 25% of all behind-the-meter solar systems will be paired with storage.

Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance say the lowest-cost projects financed in Australia, China, Chile and the UAE in the last six months hit a levelized cost of energy of just $23-29/MWh and the best solar and wind projects will produce electricity for less than $20/MWh by 2030.

Year 2019 saw some 19.5 GW of wind and solar energy contracted by corporations globally through power purchase agreements, up more than 40% from the previous year’s record. The bulk of this purchase occurred in the U.S. with tech companies and oil and gas majors leading the charge. India, however, saw a drop amid rollback of attractive policies, says a new report from BloombergNEF.

Clean energy investment across 104 emerging markets fell sharply by $36 billion in year 2018 from the previous year, even as their coal burn surged approximately 500 terawatt hours to a record high of 6.9 thousand terawatt-hours. Though the decline in clean energy investments was driven largely by China, inflows to India and Brazil also slipped by $2.4 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively. India, however, emerged as the market with greatest renewables potential.

The global installed capacity will grow from a modest 9 GW/17 GWh as of 2018 to 1,095 GW/2,850 GWh in the next two decades. Just 10 countries will account for almost 75% of the overall gigawatt market, with China, USA, India and Germany leading the pack.

The higher the cost of a technology, the greater the potential impact concessional finance can make. For a lithium-ion battery project, reducing capital costs by even one percentage point can reduce energy generation costs by $10/MWh.

Adani Solar is the fourth Indian solar PV panel manufacturing company to bagged the renowned tier-1 rating from BNEF. It gives a fresh impetus to India’s solar energy sector. Currently, the company has 1.5 GW solar module and cell manufacturing capacity.

India’s rooftop PV ambitions present a US$23 billion investment opportunity, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). However, despite the sub-sector being the fastest growing, its 40 GW targets are “unachievable”.