The renewable energy industry will see a decline in growth this year but will recover and start growing again next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in a new report.
This was even as stakeholders in the renewable energy sector in Nigeria have lamented the slow growth of the industry.
The experts had at different fora lamented the huge cost associated with renewable energy components which are about 100 per cent imported into the country, thus increasing the cost of access to power through renewable.
They equally argued that the lack of stiff regulation on the part of those empowered to regulate the activities of those operating in the renewable energy space was unhealthy for the industry.
To witness an exponential growth of the sector, they advised that all the bottle necks above listed hurdles must be removed for the industry to thrive.
IEA explained that this year would be the first in two decades when new solar and wind power capacity additions will see a dip, the IEA said, noting that so far, the industry has demonstrated strong resilience to the consequences of the pandemic.
Even so, many projects wOULD be delayed, leading to 13 percent fewer solar and wind power capacity additions this year, compared with 2019. In 2021, however, total new renewable energy additions will recover to 2019 levels, not least because of two large-scale hydropower projects set to come online in 2021.
According to IEA, solar and wind will see slower growth for new additions than previously expected by the authority, and by as much as 10 percent.
However, the agency said this should not be cause for worry as previous forecasts were invariably upbeat, leaning on continued government support for renewable energy. None of the forecasts could anticipate the coronavirus pandemic and the extent of its impact on the world.
“The resilience of renewable electricity to the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis is good news but cannot be taken for granted,” the head of IEA, Fatih Bitol, said.
