The ‘Go Green’ anthem is echoing around the world. This trend is putting pressure on all the global industries to streamline their activities to a more environment-friendly approach. The energy industry was among the first sectors to come forward and incorporate the idea of resorting to environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, the depleting rate of fossil fuels and the increasing regulatory measures were a good enough reason for them to undertake clean energy measures. In 2018, the continuing plunge in costs for solar and wind energy means that market opportunities will keep opening up for clean power, storage, and electric vehicles. Curious to know what twists and turns the energy industry is going to witness in 2018? We unravel to you the top clean energy predictions for the upcoming year:
Dip in battery pack prices
Lithium-ion battery pack prices are expected to showcase a steady decline in 2018. Despite an increase in the price of cobalt and lithium leading to increasing average cell prices, it is likely that the average cost per pack will decline by 10-15%. This trend will be driven by economies of scale, larger average pack sizes and energy density improvements of 5-7% per year.
Rise in the sale of electric vehicles
The transportation industry’s inclination towards clean energy has boosted the growth of electric vehicles. The sale of electric vehicles is expected to hit the all-time high margins this year. As compared to 2017, it is predicted that there would be a 40% rise in the electric vehicles segment in 2018. In the European market, the mounting urban air quality concerns and diesel’s fall from grace will help spike the growth of the electric vehicles market.
Energy transition in Asia’s two largest power systems – India and China
In the energy industry, India and China face opportunities and challenges that are entirely different from one another. The Indian energy sector saw a mixed year in 2017, though 12GW of renewable energy were built, there was a dip by 20% in new investments in clean energy resulting from a number of canceled auctions and power contract renegotiations. However, 2018 is expected to be the last year in which fossil fuels will outpace renewables in India. The Indian regulatory bodies are undertaking rigorous clean energy measures to stabilize global greenhouse emissions. In the case of China, the solar fever will continue to rage in 2018. In the upcoming year, China is expected to build more “distribution-grid-connected” solar projects than the larger “transmission-grid-connected” projects.
Growth in global wind installations
Wind energy is one of the major sources for generating clean energy around the world. Both onshore and offshore wind installations are expected to show a growing trend in 2018 and are expected to hit an all-time high record by 2019. China and Latin America are likely to be the two regions seeing growth between 2017 and 2018. The U.K., Germany, Netherlands, and China will continue the main markets for offshore wind projects.
Solar installations to shoot up
Solar energy still dominates as the most rapidly developing and widely accepted technique for generating clean energy. According to various industry experts, global solar installations will be at least 107GW in 2018. China will continue to be the leader in solar energy with 47-65GW of solar installations.
