should also consider collaborating with other
companies to jointly develop solutions in the
Internet of things and artificial intelligence. In
brief, power equipment companies need to
modernise and exercise their strengths in intelligent manufacturing.
For Internet and IT companies, big data is an
important cornerstone of the Energy Internet. In
April 2016, the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) issued its Guidelines on Promoting the Development of Internet+
Smart Energy. In these guidelines, the NRDC
proposed developing energy big data service
applications and outlined the requirements for IT
companies and for the integration and secure
sharing of big data, business service systems, and
industry management and supervision systems.
However, Internet and IT companies need to
explore how to capture energy big data effectively and integrate it with other big data to
maximise data value. In short, Internet and IT
companies need to unlock the value of energy
data.
1.6 New Energy Development
and Storage Technologies:
Cheaper and Better
Renewable Energy
Accelerates the Growth
of a Low-Carbon Power
System
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s
New Energy Outlook 2017, the cost of solar
power and onshore wind power will drop by 66%
and 47% respectively by 2040, and the operating
cost of renewable energy will be lower than that
of most fossil fuel power plants by 2030. As the
report indicates, the transition of global power
systems towards low-carbon energy will be faster
than in previous predictions—the total global
carbon emissions from power systems will peak
in 2026, and by 2040 will be 4% lower than in
2016. One of the report’s authors says: “Thanks
to rapidly decreasing solar and wind power costs
and the increasingly important role of various
battery technologies, including electric vehicle
batteries, in balancing power supply and demand,
the green power system represents an irreversible
trend across the world”. The report also points
out that solar and wind power will dominate the
future power system. It estimates that by 2040,
72% of total global new investment in power
generation will be in renewable energy ($7.4
trillion of the $10.2 trillion total). Solar power
investment will be $2.8 trillion and its installed
capacity will increase by a factor of 14, and wind
power investment will be $3.3 trillion and its
installed capacity will rise by a factor of 4. By
2040, wind and solar power will account for 48%
of global installed capacity and 34% of global
power output, significantly higher than the current levels of 12% and 5% respectively.
Solar energy will pose more challenges for
coal-fired power generation. Currently, the levelised cost of energy of solar photovoltaic power
is only a quarter of the 2009 level and is expected
to fall by a further 66% by 2040, i.e. the solar
power that can be purchased with $1 will be 2.3
times that of the current level. In Germany,
Australia, the USA, Spain and Italy, the price of
solar power is at the same level as coal power.
The cost of offshore wind power is expected to
decrease faster than onshore wind power. Thanks
to greater experience, intense competition, less
risk and the substantial effects of economies of
scale in large wind farms, the cost of offshore
wind power will fall sharply by 71% by 2040.
The cost of onshore wind power will drop by
47%, from a level that has declined by 30% over
the past eight years. This is due to lower wind
turbine costs, improved efficiency and more
streamlined operations and maintenance.
New and flexible energy capacity, such as
battery storage, will also facilitate the development of renewable energy. The market for
lithium-ion batteries for energy storage systems
is projected to grow to at least $239 billion by
2040. As a result, there will be increasingly
intense competition between utility-scale battery
storage and natural gas-fired power generation.
As a report from the International Renewable
Energy Agency shows, the cost of battery storage
for some applications may fall by up to 66% by
2030. Declining battery prices could also
408
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie
companies to jointly develop solutions in the
Internet of things and artificial intelligence. In
brief, power equipment companies need to
modernise and exercise their strengths in intelligent manufacturing.
For Internet and IT companies, big data is an
important cornerstone of the Energy Internet. In
April 2016, the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) issued its Guidelines on Promoting the Development of Internet+
Smart Energy. In these guidelines, the NRDC
proposed developing energy big data service
applications and outlined the requirements for IT
companies and for the integration and secure
sharing of big data, business service systems, and
industry management and supervision systems.
However, Internet and IT companies need to
explore how to capture energy big data effectively and integrate it with other big data to
maximise data value. In short, Internet and IT
companies need to unlock the value of energy
data.
1.6 New Energy Development
and Storage Technologies:
Cheaper and Better
Renewable Energy
Accelerates the Growth
of a Low-Carbon Power
System
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s
New Energy Outlook 2017, the cost of solar
power and onshore wind power will drop by 66%
and 47% respectively by 2040, and the operating
cost of renewable energy will be lower than that
of most fossil fuel power plants by 2030. As the
report indicates, the transition of global power
systems towards low-carbon energy will be faster
than in previous predictions—the total global
carbon emissions from power systems will peak
in 2026, and by 2040 will be 4% lower than in
2016. One of the report’s authors says: “Thanks
to rapidly decreasing solar and wind power costs
and the increasingly important role of various
battery technologies, including electric vehicle
batteries, in balancing power supply and demand,
the green power system represents an irreversible
trend across the world”. The report also points
out that solar and wind power will dominate the
future power system. It estimates that by 2040,
72% of total global new investment in power
generation will be in renewable energy ($7.4
trillion of the $10.2 trillion total). Solar power
investment will be $2.8 trillion and its installed
capacity will increase by a factor of 14, and wind
power investment will be $3.3 trillion and its
installed capacity will rise by a factor of 4. By
2040, wind and solar power will account for 48%
of global installed capacity and 34% of global
power output, significantly higher than the current levels of 12% and 5% respectively.
Solar energy will pose more challenges for
coal-fired power generation. Currently, the levelised cost of energy of solar photovoltaic power
is only a quarter of the 2009 level and is expected
to fall by a further 66% by 2040, i.e. the solar
power that can be purchased with $1 will be 2.3
times that of the current level. In Germany,
Australia, the USA, Spain and Italy, the price of
solar power is at the same level as coal power.
The cost of offshore wind power is expected to
decrease faster than onshore wind power. Thanks
to greater experience, intense competition, less
risk and the substantial effects of economies of
scale in large wind farms, the cost of offshore
wind power will fall sharply by 71% by 2040.
The cost of onshore wind power will drop by
47%, from a level that has declined by 30% over
the past eight years. This is due to lower wind
turbine costs, improved efficiency and more
streamlined operations and maintenance.
New and flexible energy capacity, such as
battery storage, will also facilitate the development of renewable energy. The market for
lithium-ion batteries for energy storage systems
is projected to grow to at least $239 billion by
2040. As a result, there will be increasingly
intense competition between utility-scale battery
storage and natural gas-fired power generation.
As a report from the International Renewable
Energy Agency shows, the cost of battery storage
for some applications may fall by up to 66% by
2030. Declining battery prices could also
408
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie