Clean energy sectors unite to form Global Renewables Alliance at CO27

The Global Renewables Alliance has been launched at COP27 and combines industry bodies and organisations for wind, solar, hydropower, green hydrogen, energy storage and geothermal sectors.

The organisations represent the technologies that can help accelerate the energy transition, lessen a reliance on Russian gas and help reach the 1.5C limit of the Paris Agreement.

The Alliance will act as a unified voice that represents renewables industries and technologies

Speaking with a single voice representing all key renewable energy technologies will serve to accelerate the energy transition through collective efforts on advocacy, education, market intelligence and data and engagement with international energy, economic and environmental institutions.

Commenting on the announcement, GWEC’s chief executive Ben Backwell said: “Massive deployment of renewable energy is the critical element in the battle against climate change and countries will need all of the key technologies represented by this alliance in order to be successful, and it is important that we take a collaborative approach and work together as technologies to help governments and communities achieve the just energy transition to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future.”

Renewable costs

The tumbling costs of wind and solar can unlock demand that could power the world 100 times over, according to think tank Carbon Tracker, which found that renewables are set to push fossil fuels out of the electricity mix by the mid-2030s.

A new report from Carbon Tracker finds that 60% of the world’s solar resources and 15% of its wind resource are economically comparable with local fossil fuel generation. As costs fall further, fossil fuels could be pushed out of the electricity mix by the 2030s, at which point all solar technology and more than half of wind will be economically preferable compared to other forms of electricity generation.

By 2050, wind and solar would displace fossil fuels entirely in supporting technologies such as electric vehicles and green hydrogen production. Falling costs could see renewables create energy demand that would power the world 100 times over.

The report notes that global energy consumption in 2019 sat at 65 Petawatt hours (PWh). Currently, solar alone has the potential to capture more than 5,800 PWh annually – as much power in a single year as could be generated by burning all known fossil fuel reserves – while onshore and offshore wind would account for 900PWh annually.

Utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind are now the cheapest forms of new-build energy generation across two-thirds of the global population, according to analysis from BloombergNEF (BNEF).

At a corporate level, businesses that have made public commitments to procure 100% renewable energy have created a combined demand that is bigger than the national requirements from the likes of the UK and Italy.

More than 310 companies, with combined revenue of more than $6.6trn and accounting for more than 7% of global GDP, have committed to sourcing 100% renewables through the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative.