ABSTRACT:

In its report, REN21 qualifies the need for base cargo as a myth, providing data: In 2016
Denmark and Germany successfully managed peaks of 140% and 86.3% respectively, of
generating electricity with renewables; And in countries such as Portugal, Ireland and
Cyprus, annual quotas of 20-30% of renewable electricity were reached without storage.
Despite this, the report recognizes that innovations and new solutions in storage technologies
will provide more and more flexibility to the electrical system. In 2016, a storage capacity
close to 0.8 GW was put into service, throwing at the end of the year a cumulative total of
6.4 GW. The report also recalls the heating and refrigeration and transport sectors, with
special attention to the advance of the electric vehicle. In 2016, sales of electric passenger
vehicles reached 775,000 units, and by the end of the year more than 2 million of electric
vehicles circulated on roads around the world. Despite slow progress in the heating and
cooling sector, 2016 has seen positive progress. The use of continuous process solar heat on
the rise in industries such as food and beverages and mining; And it's spreading to others.
The solar thermal is still incorporated in urban heating networks, with Denmark at the head,
and it is increasing the interest to incorporate also the geothermic to these plants.
Most rural areas in developing countries, energy needs are met mainly with traditional
biomass fuels. This scenario seriously limits the possibility of many rural people to improve
agricultural productivity and their quality of life. Biomass consumption is continually
increasing for the supply of heat and electricity, approximately 64.5% of the biomass used
worldwide for energy generation corresponds to the so-called traditional biomass: firewood,
crop residues and Manure of animals, which are usually burned in inefficient chimneys or
stoves to cook, produce heat in the dwellings, as well as to obtain illumination. The remaining
biomass is used for modern bioenergy, in Latin America it is estimated that approximately
100 million people use traditional biomass to meet their basic energy needs.
The growth of the ER remains moderate under the subsidies still received by fossil fuels and
nuclear energy; Particularly in developing countries, they present some figures of ER growth
in the energy sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazil was the leader in new
installed capacity of ER, with a record of 2.5 GW of power generation capacity Wind for
2014 (REN21, 2015); While Uruguay is the country that added more capacity for wind power
generation per capita worldwide in recent years. In this country, wind power reached 22.8%
of the electricity consumption in 2016.
Globally, the new installed capacity of renewable energy scored a record in 2016, with 161
gigawatts (GW) installed, which means an increase in total global capacity of almost 9%
compared to 2015, to reach almost 2,017 GW. Photovoltaic solar energy represents almost
47% of the added capacity, followed by wind energy with 34% and hydraulic energy with
15.5%. Renewable energies are becoming the cheapest option. In Denmark, Egypt, India,
Mexico, Peru and the United Arab Emirates the price of renewable electricity was set at 0.05
dollars per kilowatt/hour or less, a price that is well below the equivalent costs of fossil fuels
and the generation Nuclear.
The imperative need for a "base charge" is a myth. The integration of large proportions of
variable renewable energy can be carried out without a "base load" that comes from fossil
fuels or energy by means of network interconnections; Union of sectors and instrumental
technologies such as ICT; Storage systems; Electric vehicles and heat pumps. This type of
flexibility not only balances the variable generation but optimizes the system and reduces
generation costs. It is therefore no surprise that there is an increase in the number of countries
that have successfully managed the peaks that are approaching or exceeding 100% of the
generation of electricity from renewable sources. For example, in 2016, Denmark and
Germany successfully handled peaks in renewable electricity of 140% and 86.3%
respectively.
The report also mentions other very positive aspects of development at the global level:
Innovations and new solutions in storage technologies are going to provide more and more
flexibility to the electrical system. In 2016, about 0.8 GW of new Advanced power storage
capacity came into operation, which at the end of the year threw an estimated total of 6.4
GW. Investments are declining when they need to increase because, to keep global warming
below 2 °c, it is necessary to use all available renewable energy technologies. The transport,
heating and refrigeration sectors are still lagging the electricity sector and fossil fuel subsidies
continue to impede progress. In 2014, the ratio between fossil fuel subsidies and renewable
energy subsidies was 4:1, i.e. for every dollar spent on renewables, governments allocated
$4 to perpetuate dependence on fossil fuels.
In the world, the total energy supply has been increasing in recent decades, with a sharp reduction
in the percentage of oil production and a considerable increase in the contribution of nuclear
energy, natural gas and renewable energies. The evolution of renewable energies is justified
because they offer a striking reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, climate change mitigation,
opportunities for job creation and technological development. Similarly, the independence of this
kind of fossil fuel energies, which are finite, are depleting and would take millions of years to fully
restore themselves, is relevant.
In developing countries, the formulation of renewable energy policies and targets is linked to
emission reduction targets and external supply dependence. In Latin America, it is necessary to
combine efforts to mass the participation of renewable energies in the energy market. The first task
of government agencies should be to focus on ensuring that all policies and strategies for
overcrowding the use of renewable energies, presented through a development plan, can be
implemented to ensure their sustainability over time.