Home News Energy Solar Citigroup: Solar set to shine as costs plummet Investment bank expects pure economics of solar will allow technology to out-compete fossil fuels in the longer term By BusinessGreen staff 15 Aug 2014 More from this author 0 Comments Mauritania solar pv plant - photo Clement Tardif-Masdar Citigroup has become the latest high profile financial giant to throw its weight behind the global solar revolution, arguing that solar powers pure economics compared to increasingly costly fossil fuels will see it play a starring role in the future global energy mix. In a report on disruptive energy technologies, the investment bank this week cited a number of reasons why the solar sector is expected to perform strongly in the future, including significant improvements in the efficiency of PV cells, as well as continuing reductions in manufacturing costs that have already seen solar power reach grid parity in several countries. FURTHER READING UK breaks 5GW solar capacity milestone Al Gore: Compelling economic case for ditching coal assets The report, entitled Energy 2020: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised as Disruptors Multiply, also argues investors need to diversify and hedge against fossil fuel prices and security risks, outlining how many of the US utilities Citi has surveyed highlighted the importance of insulating themselves against the potential for gas prices to rise. Citi expects growth in the solar sector to come from both established markets, such as China, Japan, the US and UK, and emerging markets in India, Latin America, and the Middle East. It adds that grid parity is likely in the UK as early as 2018, is on track to be reached in Japan between 2014 and 2016, and in South Korea between 2016 and 2020. It also suggests International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that there will be 62GW of solar by 2035 and $1.3tr of investment in the sector as highly conservative. We believe global solar growth will be driven by economics, fuel diversity and emerging financing vehicles as well as some country specific legislative overlay, Citi analysts say in the report. Moreover, this growth looks set to continue for the long term, as solar takes an ever greater share of energy generation, helped by improving economics against fossil fuels.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 20:28:12 +0000