Project aims for 'near doubling' of renewable capacity
Sixteen firms, including EDF Energy, Schneider Electric, ABB and EDP, have launched a collaborative action plan, entitled ‘scaling up renewables’, in order to help create an additional 1.5TW of green energy capacity by 2025.
The program is part of the Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi) from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which aims to speed-up and increase the development of low carbon technologies in order to reduce emissions.
It is hoped the project will tackle the barriers to widespread deployment of renewable energy through the integration of renewable energy into grids and electricity markets, including promoting energy interconnections; scaling up green bond finance, increasing renewable energy procurement and promoting sustainable electrification of remote areas via accelerated deployment of low carbon microgrids.
The initiative, announced at the European Wind Energy Association’s annual event in Paris yesterday, comes after a report from the PwC earlier this month, which states that the LCTPi could provide up to two-thirds of the emissions cuts needed to meet the UN’s global warming target of less than two degrees.
Peter Bakker (right), President and CEO of the WBCSD, believes that accelerating the development and deployment of renewable energy is a critical part of the 2°C pathway.
“We are working with the world’s most forward-thinking companies to develop innovative low carbon solutions that can help address the climate challenge,” he said.
“Today’s announcement on Renewables shows that businesses around the world are taking concrete action to combat climate change as they see the multiple integrated benefits of investing in a low carbon world.”
António Mexia, CEO of EDP Group, added: “Renewable energy is crucial in addressing climate change and presents substantial economic opportunities given increasing cost-competitiveness with other power sources.
“EDP recognizes the urgency of the need to move towards a low carbon economy and the opportunities associated with this, and has committed to increasing electricity generation from renewable sources to 75% of installed capacity by 2020.”
The new project comes as the United Nations prepare to meet in Paris for their annual Climate Change Conference later this month, with a number of world leaders hoping to achieve a universal agreement on global climate for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations.
