The renewables market in north-west Europe could offer €185bn in investment opportunities by 2030, of which €64bn could be in subsidy-free projects, according to new analysis by Aurora Energy Research.
The analysts said the region – UK, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium – has the potential to develop over 60GW of subsidy-free renewables by the end of the next decade, with 18GW alone in the UK.
It said the main factors that are boosting the economics of renewables are reducing project risk through the corporate, utility or industrial power purchase agreements, revenue stacking and the co-deployment of battery storage to help improve revenues reduce costs.
The researchers predict grid parity for onshore wind and solar in the UK by the early 2020s and for offshore wind later in the decade or in the early 2030s.
They added that subsidy-free renewables will have a negative impact on baseload power generation, such as natural gas and nuclear, but boost the business case for flexible assets, such as peaking plants, battery storage and demand response.
Image: reNEWS
Aurora expects northern glow
By EBS