In 2009, approximately 19.9 percent (608 TWh) of Europe’s Total Electricity consumption (3042TWh) was generated from alternative energy sources. Hydropower is the biggest contributor accounting for 11.6 percent and subsequently, wind (4.2 percent), biomass (3.5 percent) and solar (0.4 percent).
The expansion of electricity capacity for 2009 was of a total of 27.5 GW. Renewable sources such as wind power, photovoltaic (PV), biomass, hydro and concentrated solar power accounted for 37.1 %, 21 % 2.1 %, and 1, 4 % and 0.4 % respectively. The remaining was constructed from gas fired power stations (24 percent), coal-fired power stations (8.7 percent), oil (2.1 percent), nuclear (1.6 percent) and waste incineration (1.6 percent)
However, some of the facilities expanded for energy output are not operating on full potentials. For example, the constructed gas-fired power stations will produce 28 TWh yearly on reaching full capacity. Other sources such as wind will produce 20 TWh and PV 5.6 TWh per annum.
The “report” suggests that if the actual growth rate is sustained then by year 2020 more than 1400 TWh of electricity will be produced from clean energy sources. With such a capacity, renewable energy would represent around 35 to 40 percent of Europe’s electricity consumption. This would definitely contribute to achieve the current goal of generating 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2020.
Indeed, to meet the 20 percent target some obstacles need to be addressed. Emphasis must be laid on improving access to grids, invest more in R&D and encourage the use of renewable electricity systems. According to the study, the cost of renewable technology will not be influenced by the time (in the future) but rather on production volume.
Overview of 2010 Snapshot
Several targets set are being met earlier than expected. For wind energy, the total installed capacity reached above 74 GW in 2009. It is already 80 percent more than the target for 2010, which is 40 GW. The current target established by the European Wind Association is to reach an installed capacity of 230 GW (40 GW offshore) by year 2020. This will be enough to provide roughly 20 percent of the energy consumption required in Europe.
The expansion in biomass is doubling the output from 108 TWh to 200 TWh in 2008 to 2010. Nevertheless, there are competing uses of biomass such as for transport fuels and heating. These competing alternative uses might hinder its use as bio-electricity. The positive aspect of bio-electricity is that it can be stored to be used when demand for electricity increases.
In Europe the use of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is only moderately developed. It generated 0.43 GW in May 2010. However, it is a growing source of electricity. For 2020, CSP can provide an estimated 30 GW of electricity, assuming that European Solar Industry Initiative ESII is implemented. Spain has most of the CSP projects currently in Europe.
Typical solar photovoltaic (PV) has since 2003 increased its total installed capacity by 100 percent per annum. It reached a total of 16 GW in 2009, which accounts for around 2 percent of the general capacity. In 2010, PV is expected to expand with a further 10 GW of installed capacity. Moreover, solar photovoltaic has surpassed the suggested amount of installed capacity prescribed by EU’s white papers on renewable energy sources.
There are other sources of renewable energy which are progressing gradually in research and development such as geothermal, wave and tidal power. They are thus not incorporated in the Renewable Energy Snapshots. Nonetheless, they will be included in the years to come.
There is one particular source of energy which is not expected to increase much. Hydropower does already represent the major part of renewable energy but it is not predicted to expand much, as most of its resources are already being exploited. Yet, hydropower, such as pumped hydro will be used as a storage capacity for alternative sources of energy.
PDF Report: Renewable Energy Snapshot 2009
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