The Floating offshore wind outlook report, commissioned by the 2023 Japanese G7 Presidency, explores the current state of the market for floating offshore wind, as well as recent technological developments in this nascent but increasingly competitive renewable energy industry.
Increasing economies of scale, more competitive supply chains and further technological improvements will continue reducing the costs of solar and wind power. The same factors will also boost the availability of these key renewable power sources at night and in varying weather conditions.
The size of wind turbines has continuously increased over several decades to boost power generation from this key renewable energy source. As this technology brief from IRENA and IEA-ETSAP notes, large-scale wind farms and larger turbines drive the ongoing reduction of electricity costs.
IRENA’s Renewable Energy Innovation Outlook series analyses the emerging developments making renewable energy technologies (RETs) increasingly competitive in the world’s energy markets and systems.
This brief summarizes the opportunities floating foundations offer to the offshore wind industry as they allow access to deep-water sites, ease turbine set-up and tend to have lower environmental impact than fixed-bottom designs.
The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy (Global Atlas) is a free online resource-assessment tool intended to help policy makers and investors appreciate the extent of the renewable energy resources at their disposal in each country or region.
The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy provides access to a vast range of solar and wind resource maps created using different methodologies, with different spatial coverage and resolutions. Several datasets may overlap a single territory, and users can choose among several data sources. Yet this very versatility can pose a dilemma for the end-user over the main strengths and weaknesses of the available datasets, and which data is the most suitable to use.
With many economies facing slow growth prospects, policy makers increasingly see chances for greater income, improved trade balances, industrial development and job creation through renewable energy deployment. However, detailed evidence on these effects remains limited.
Like an increasing number of countries around the world, the Philippines has adopted clear targets for the adoption solar, wind and bioenergy-based power systems, with project development already underway in some cases
Offshore renewable energy – including offshore wind and solar power, as well as emerging ocean energy technologies – could support sustainable long-term development and drive a vibrant blue economy.
Electricity storage will be crucial factor for scaling up solar and wind power. Yet electricity markets may not account for the system value of storage.
Based on a survey across the industry, this study tracks women’s employment, gender policies and perceptions of gender bias throughout the wind energy value chain.
IRENA's 10th Assembly booklet charts global advances over the past decade and calls for a new Decade of Action on renewables. Comparative graphs and data illuminate the road ahead.
The Global Atlas for Solar and Wind Energy project aims to create a collaborative internetbased Geographic Information System (GIS) for wind and solar resources that can direct and enhance cooperation on global scenarios and strategies and support decision-making, especially in areas where existing information is insufficient.
In two international workshops in Bonn (June 2010) and Madrid (November 2010) and in meetings during the first CEM in Washington (July 2010) and the second CEM in Abu Dhabi (April 2011) the Multilateral Working Group made substantial progress in the two initial fields of action: (I) the Development of a Global Solar and Wind Atlas; and (II) the Development of a Long-term Strategy on Joint Capacity Building.
This working paper is part of a set of five reports on hydropower, wind, biomass, concentrating solar power and solar pholtovoltaics that address the current costs of these key renewable power technology options.
This brief from IRENA's Collaborative Framework on Ocean Energy and Offshore Renewables presents actionable solutions to address permitting bottlenecks and accelerate related processes for scaling up offshore wind deployment.
Based on a new, unique dataset from a global survey, this IRENA report presents unprecedented insights on the cost of capital for onshore wind, offshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.
This joint report by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) uses patent statistics to explore innovation trends in the offshore wind supply chain, revealing key technological developments in the industry.
The municipal authorities for Zhangjiakou City, in co-operation with the China National Renewable Energy Centre (CNREC) and IRENA, have adopted an ambitious 30-year roadmap to phase out coal-fired power generation and scale up solar and wind power instead.
The municipal authorities for Zhangjiakou City, in co-operation with the China National Renewable Energy Centre (CNREC) and IRENA, have adopted an ambitious 30-year roadmap to phase out coal-fired power generation and scale up solar and wind power instead.
This study presents options to speed up the deployment of wind power, both onshore and offshore, until 2050. It builds on IRENA’s global roadmap to scale up renewables and meet climate goals.
Power systems need to be increasingly flexible to accommodate rising solar and wind shares. This brief examines the uses of demand-side flexibility, outlines solutions to achieve these, and highlights examples in actual power systems.
Data and research confirm rapid capacity growth, cost and performance improvements, increasing technological sophistication and the need for standardisation to expand offshore wind and ocean energy.
The report provides insights on various emerging offshore renewable energy technologies and their underlying potential. It also outlines a possible Action Plan for the G20 countries to drive offshore technologies closer to the commercialisation phase.