IEA: Global solar capacity could meet deployment needs in 2030

PV Tech:

Announced solar PV manufacturing capacity across the globe has met the deployment levels suggested by the International Energy Agency towards 2030, but only 25% of the announced projects could be considered as committed, according to IEA’s recent study.

The report — the State of Clean Technology Manufacturing: An Energy Technology Perspectives Special Briefing — stated that announced project throughput, which is a fraction of the installed manufacturing capacity and depends on the utilisation of production facilities, and deployment for key clean energy technologies in 2030 as stated in Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario was 50% higher than the required deployment levels as of the end of March 2023.

It also suggested that manufacturers were already on track to meet projected demand in 2030 in the NZE Scenario as of late 2022, with about 670GW of throughput by that year resulting from project announcements for additional manufacturing capacity.

Solar PV manufacturing continued to expand in recent years as it increased at a compound annual growth rate of 25% during the period from 2010-2021. In 2022, global manufacturing capacity increased by 40% to about 640GW, with 90% of the growth taking place in China. In the same year, manufacturing throughput was about 260GW, indicating a global average utilisation rate of about 40%.

[Simon Yuen]

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