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Solar Industry Remains Largest Renewables Employer

The solar PV industry remained the largest renewable energy employer in 2015, with 2.8 million jobs worldwide - an 11% rise over 2014, according to a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The report, titled “Renewable Energy and Jobs - Annual Review 2016,” finds solar employment grew in Japan and the U.S., stabilized in China, and decreased in the European Union last year.

Meanwhile, the entire renewable energy industry employed more than 8.1 million people around the globe in 2015 - a 5% increase from 2014. The report says liquid biofuels was the second-largest global renewables employer, with 1.7 million jobs, followed by wind power, which grew 5% to reach 1.1 million jobs worldwide.

The report notes that while the total number of renewable energy jobs rose in 2015, jobs in the broader energy sector fell. In the U.S., for example, renewable energy jobs increased 6% and employment in oil and gas decreased 18%. Likewise, in China, renewable energy employed 3.5 million people, while oil and gas employed 2.6 million.

As in previous years, enabling policy frameworks remained a key driver of employment, the report says. National and state auctions in India and Brazil, tax credits in the U.S., and favorable policies in Asia have all contributed to employment increases.

“The continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant because it stands in contrast to trends across the energy sector,” says IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “This increase is being driven by declining renewable energy technology costs and enabling policy frameworks. We expect this trend to continue as the business case for renewables strengthens and as countries move to achieve their climate targets agreed on in Paris.”

According to the report, countries with the most renewable energy jobs in 2015 included China, Brazil, the U.S., India, Japan and Germany. In the U.S., renewable energy employment increased 6%, driven by growth in wind and solar. Solar employment in the country grew 22% - 12 times faster than job creation in the U.S. economy - surpassing jobs in oil and gas. Employment in the U.S. wind industry also grew 21%.

“As the ongoing energy transition accelerates, growth in renewable energy employment will remain strong,” concludes Amin. “IRENA’s research estimates that doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030 - enough to meet global climate and development targets - would result in more than 24 million jobs worldwide.”

 

And The World’s Most Attractive Markets Are…

The U.S. has maintained its No. 1 spot as the most enticing renewable energy market for investors in EY’s latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI). Now in its 47th edition, the index ranks 40 markets on the attractiveness of their renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities based on a number of macro, energy market and technology-specific indicators.

Notwithstanding uncertainty over its Clean Power Plan, the U.S. held its position following the five-year extension of federal tax credits for wind and solar, according to the RECAI. The report says this provided critical certainty for investors and is forecast to galvanize significant capacity deployment through to 2020.

China and India also maintained their top spots, ranking second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Chile (4), Brazil (6) and Mexico (7) climbed higher in the index top 10, while Germany (5) and France (8) fell in the latest ranking.

Almost without exception, European markets slipped down the rankings, while less mature markets across Latin America, Africa and Asia continued their ascent, the report adds.

So-called “emerging” markets now represent half of the countries in the 40-strong index, including four African markets featured in the top 30. The RECAI says that just a decade ago, only China and India were attractive enough to compete with more developed markets for renewable energy investment.

“Emerging markets are transforming their energy industries at an unprecedented pace,” explains Ben Warren, EY’s global power and utilities corporate finance leader and RECAI chief editor. “Last year, renewable energy investments in the developing world overtook those in the developed world for the first time. Latin America, in particular, has become something of a litmus test for how quickly markets can grow.”

According to the RECAI, Chile is one of the first markets to enable economically viable renewables projects to compete directly with all other energy sources. At the same time, Brazil’s renewables sector is showing surprising resilience amid an economic downturn, and its underdeveloped solar market remains a potentially lucrative lure. And Mexico’s recent power auctions have opened the door to multibillion-dollar opportunities under a new liberalized energy market.

Meanwhile, the report says European markets appear to be scaling back their ambitions as they address the challenges of marrying up increasingly mainstream renewables with a legacy of centralized conventional power generation.

Argentina was the highest-scoring new entrant. The RECAI says the transformation of the country’s economy and rollout of an ambitious renewables program under its new pro-market government brings it into the index in 18th position and reinforces how quickly new markets can redirect the focus of developers and investors.

“Markets earlier in their renewables journey are benefiting from cheaper and more efficient technologies, lower cost of capital, and more reliable resource forecasting,” says Warren. “The increasingly global flow of capital proves that investors are becoming more comfortable with new markets. We can expect to see massive deployment of low-carbon investment in developing markets.

“Yet, ambitious targets and low pricing alone will not be enough to promise investment attractiveness,” he adds. “The ability of markets to climb or stay in will depend on projects being built and commercial viability enabling the supply of affordable energy in a competitive environment.”

 

U.S. Renewables Set Generation Records In Q1

U.S. renewable energy sources set a series of records for domestic electrical generation during the first quarter of 2016, says nonprofit SUN DAY Campaign, which released an analysis of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest “Electric Power Monthly” report.

Citing the EIA data, SUN DAY says net U.S. electrical generation from non-hydro renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar and wind) increased by 22.9% compared with the first quarter of 2015. Output from conventional hydropower also rose by 6.5%. Combined, generation from all renewable sources increased by 14.6% in the first quarter year-over-year.

Furthermore, SUN DAY’s analysis says utility-scale electrical generation from renewable sources hit an all-time high of nearly 17% (16.89%) of total generation. During the first quarter of 2015, renewable energy’s share of net generation was only 14%.

According to the analysis, electrical generation by wind rose 32.8% and set a new record of 6.23% of total generation. In the first quarter of 2015, wind power’s share was only 4.46%. Similarly, electrical generation from utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaics grew by 31.4% and comprised 0.69% of total electrical output. SUN DAY notes that the EIA also estimates that distributed solar PV (e.g., rooftop solar systems) expanded by 35.2% during the quarter. Combined, utility-scale and distributed solar accounted for 1.01% of generation. A year ago, solar’s share was only 0.72%.

Among renewable energy sources, only biomass and geothermal experienced declines of 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

SUN DAY says that, in stark contrast to the stunning growth rate of renewable sources, nuclear power remained essentially stagnant - registering growth of only 1%; electrical generation fueled by natural gas was up by 6.7%, while that from coal dropped by 24.2%.

“Inasmuch as electrical output from wind and hydropower sources tend to be highest in the first quarter of each year, renewable energy’s share of net electrical generation for the balance of 2016 may dip a little,” notes Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “Nonetheless, data for the first quarter appears to be swamping EIA’s earlier forecast of just 9.5 percent growth by renewables in 2016.”

 

New Alliance Will Encourage Corporations To Go Green

Four non-governmental organizations have formed the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a new coalition aiming to empower multinational companies to transform electricity systems with renewable energy. Specifically, REBA plans to help facilitate and bring online 60 GW of corporate renewable energy in the U.S. by 2025.

The group is led by the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). According to REBA, more than 60 companies - including major firms such as Facebook and Microsoft - are members of one or more of the coalition’s initiatives.

REBA says it will facilitate solutions among customers, renewable energy suppliers, utilities and policymakers to overcome market barriers and drive collaboration among all parties. The group adds that each of the four founding organizations addresses the needs of U.S. businesses looking to secure renewable energy by doing the following:

• Aggregating corporate purchasing demand, articulating business needs to the market, and working with utilities to develop solutions that better serve corporate buyers through WRI and WWF’s Renewable Energy Buyers’ Principles;

• Developing an ecosystem of solutions providers, scaling renewable energy developments and helping companies execute their renewable energy strategies through RMI’s Business Renewables Center; and

• Increasing companies’ use of renewable energy to power data centers by collaborating with power providers, utilities and policymakers through BSR’s Future of Internet Power.

Brian Janous, Microsoft’s director of energy strategy, says the company is “proud to be part of the REBA network and the movement to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.”

“We are committed not only to increasing our purchase of green power, but also to working with new partners to bring even more renewable energy onto the grid where we do business.”

Bill Weihl, director of sustainability at Facebook, notes that “openness and collaboration help everyone move faster.”

“We need to develop more new sources of renewable energy, and we need to make it easier for companies of all kinds to use renewable energy,” he says.

Michael Polsky, president and CEO of Invenergy, adds, “The extremely competitive and stable prices of wind and solar energy offer a tremendous value proposition for businesses in terms of economics and sustainability. As a founding project developer of the Business Renewables Center, Invenergy is glad to be supporting the launch of REBA to ensure U.S. businesses can realize this value.”

 

Calif. Study Gauges Benefits Of Solar + Energy Storage

Combining battery energy storage with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems would lead to significant electric bill savings for both property owners and residents of multifamily affordable rental housing in California, according to a report from the California Housing Partnership, Center for Sustainable Energy and Clean Energy Group.

The authors say the report findings are particularly important given the 2015 passage of A.B.693, which established the state’s Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs program and provides up to $1 billion in cap-and-trade funding over 10 years to create incentives for installing solar PV systems starting in 2017.

Key findings of the report, titled “Closing the California Clean Energy Divide,” include the following:

• Under current utility rate tariffs, the combination of solar and battery storage technologies could virtually eliminate electric bills for some owners of affordable rental housing. Unlike stand-alone solar, which the report says reduces energy consumption expenses but does little to offset expensive demand-related charges, a properly sized solar and battery storage system can eliminate nearly all electricity expenses, resulting in an annual electric utility bill of less than a few hundred dollars.

• The addition of storage technologies has the potential to nearly double stand-alone solar electricity bill savings at about a third of the cost of solar. For example, the report says the addition of a $112,100 battery storage system to a $385,000 solar installation increased savings from $15,000 per year to $27,900 - an 85% increase in savings for only a 29% increase in cost.

• The addition of battery storage to solar improves the economics of each property analyzed across all utility territories, reducing project payback by over three years in some cases.

“Our analysis, which is based on data from real buildings, shows that adding battery storage to a solar PV system installed on an affordable housing property in Southern California could increase the annual savings on a property owner’s electricity bill to 99 percent, which is nearly double the savings of what a solar-alone system can provide,” says Seth Mullendore, a program manager at the Clean Energy Group.

The report also finds that affordable multifamily housing property owners in two utility territories - Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric - have the potential to increase savings by nearly 100% over solar alone by adding storage while increasing upfront investment by less than 30%, essentially eliminating their annual electric bills.

“Many affordable housing owners are interested in exploring energy storage, both for the economic benefits and improved resiliency of a property,” says Wayne Waite, policy director at the California Housing Partnership. “This report fills the information gap for owners so they can better understand these emerging technologies.”