The renewable energy market is expected to see continued strong long-term growth with solar and wind providing 50% of all power globally by 2050. Investments in renewables are expected to reach about USD 300 million in 2020 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BENF). Battery costs also continue to decline and are expected to be reduced by almost 60% by 2030. Renewable projects in combination with storage is expected to see agreements worth about USD 5 billion in 2020 as clean energy is growing and energy storage costs are falling.
According to BNEF, about 118 GW of solar was installed globally in 2019. In the short term, the solar market volume is expected to grow by more than 30% to 158 GW in 2022, while the low estimate might see a decline to 108 GW, mainly due to Chines policy changes that will push some 2020 demand to 2021. 17 countries are expected to install more than 1 GW during the year and the highest growth is forecasted to come from new markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The investments required to realise a typical utility-scale solar plant is expected reach 75 cents per Watt in 2020, a decline of almost 40 % from 2016.
Solar power has seen exponential growth over the last decade and the costs continues to decline. Policy makers around the world are increasingly adapting renewable energy and solar is an efficient solution to cover power needs and support growth. In emerging economies, governments continue to see private/public partnerships as an attractive model where multilateral development banks and private players provide funding to realise new solar projects at a fast pace. Several development banks have long-standing presence and experience in emerging markets and are mandated to provide non-recourse project financing.
In addition to the public sector, private companies and the power intensive industries across emerging markets are seeking to source solar power. This is a new and growing market for Scatec Solar, and our new container based concept, Release is developed to address this market segment.
These markets represent interesting opportunities for Scatec Solar and continue to be a solid fundament for growth in the coming years.