SIEW 2015: Powering a Changed World - BNEF New Energy Outlook 2015

The world's power-generating capacity mix is transforming. Fossil fuels, which account for two-thirds of power generation today, will be responsible for only 44% of generation in 2040.

At the same time, variable renewable technologies like wind and solar will rise to nearly 30%, up from 5% in 2014.

What is driving this shift? It starts with the economics of renewables. Wind, for example, is already the cheapest form of new power generation capacity in Europe, Australia and Brazil. It will be the cheapest option almost universally within the next 10 years, thanks to steep experience curves and improved pricing.

Large-scale solar plants will increasingly out-compete gas, coal and wind in sunny locations. Solar will be the number one sector in terms of capacity additions over the next 25 years, and small-scale PV will account for nearly 13% of global generating capacity by 2040.

Fossil fuels will maintain a large part of generation throughout this period, yet 99% of new coal-fired capacity will be in developing countries where supply is relatively cheap and climate change policies are weak or yet to be implemented. Gas will continue to fulfill is role as a ‘transitional fuel’, mostly in developing countries.

This information can be found in The New Energy Outlook (NEO), Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual long-term global forecast for the future of energy. To learn more about their assessment of how the market will evolve, click here to read the full NEO report.

By : Bloomberg New Energy Finance