The Race to Zero

Context: A few key announcements capture the trend of resilient clean power and new sustainability commitments by corporate leaders, even as the power demand outlook remains muted amidst pandemic.

• Resilient Clean Power Investments

• Investment in new renewable energy capacity remained resilient in the first half of the year, rising 5% to $132 billion. – BloombergNEF.

• Big Jump-off in offshore wind financing:

• Including the largest ever, the 1.5 gigawatts Vattenfall Hollandse Zuid array off the coast of the Netherlands.
• The UK’s 1.1 gigawatts SSE Seagreen project and the 600 megawatts CIP Changfang Xidao farms off Taiwan.

• China remained the largest clean energy investor, accounting for almost a third of global investment in the first half of 2020.

• Cheaper Solar Energy

• Closer to One Cent Tariff Milestone: For E.g. Emirates Water and Electricity company awarding the contract for the 2-gigawatts Al-Dhafra plant at just 1.35 US cents per kWh.
• Power Export: Countries with more sunlight and more space can export power to countries not similarly advantaged,

• • • • For E.g. Australia proposed an ambitious A$22 billion plan to export power from a giant solar farm in the country’s north to South East Asia via undersea cables

• Green Hydrogen: To fully decarbonise the world economy, it is likely that a clean molecule will be needed, and hydrogen is well placed to play this role: 

• The European Commission announced a hydrogen strategy last month involving an estimated investment of Euro 470 billion (over $500 billion) by 2030. It aims 3 things:

• • • • Green hydrogen production
      • Manufacture and installation of electrolytes
      • A euro-dominated market for green hydrogen.

• Corporate and Net-Zero:

• Reliance has announced to venture on to become the world’s new energy and new material company having a net-zero ambition and plans to replace transportation fuels.
• Microsoft announced its carbon-negative ambition to be achieved by 2030 and is also a founding member of the “Transform to Net-Zero” Initiative.