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Utilities for Net Zero Alliance goal represents an 2.5 increase relative to 2023
The Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) has adopted the UNEZA Roadmap to 2030, which targets a total increase of renewable energy capacity within their portfolios to 749GW by 2030.
This represents an increase of 2.5 times relative to 2023.
Alliance members’ joint renewables ambition was announced alongside a grid infrastructure action plan.
The plan, revealed at the 14th Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), addresses the need to scale and modernise global grid infrastructure to support clean power development and the tripling of renewables by 2030.
According to IRENA, around US$720bn per year of investment in power grids and flexibility is needed, to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
In a joint, high-level statement, Alliance chief executives stressed the centrality of enabling grid infrastructure and urged the policy and regulatory community to engage industry to address bottlenecks and unlock capital flows.
The UNEZA action plan focuses on de-risking supply chains, facilitating policy & regulatory support and mobilising capital.
The joint statement and action plan were announced on 17 April 2024 at the 14th IRENA Assembly Ministerial Roundtable Infrastructure for the Energy Transition: Utilities for Net Zero Alliance.
IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera said: "The shift towards a renewables-based energy system is accelerating, and with the adoption of a global goal to triple renewable power capacity by 2030 at COP28, this trend is expected to intensify.
IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook shows that this goal will be met only with the modernisation of infrastructure designed for the fossil fuel era to more interconnected and flexible systems that support renewables.
"The announcement of a grid infrastructure action plan by the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance is a significant step to addressing this urgent need, showcasing the central role that utilities can play in transforming our energy systems and realising net zero targets."
Chief commercial officer at SSE and co-chair of UNEZA Martin Pibworth added: "Our combined plans for accelerating renewables deployment will go a long way towards achieving our 2030 goal, but we also know that utilities can’t do it alone.
"We also need to build resilient supply chains that can meet this surge in demand, and we need bold enabling policy and regulatory mechanisms to underpin investments and accelerate the speed at which we can build.
"That is why we are coming together today to demonstrate our intent to the global supply chain and offer practical, actionable recommendations to policy makers which we hope will help unlock real delivery on the ground and keep us on a pathway to trebling renewables this decade." |
