The ongoing transformation of the global energy sector is opening possibilities for many developing countries to reach their energy access and service delivery goals in a lower cost, more sustainable manner, while combating climate change. New technologies, and new ways of using existing technologies such as geospatial data systems, smart grids, and smart meters are helping to develop resilient energy infrastructure and operate it more efficiently. These developments, combined with major cost reductions in renewable energy and storage solutions are presenting a strong prospect of a complete re-orientation of the energy sector towards a more decentralized, decarbonized and digitalized path....
The levelized cost of electricity is the most common indicator used to compare the cost competitiveness of electricity-generating technologies. Several studies claim that some renewable energy technologies, particularly utility-scale solar photovoltaic and onshore wind, are cost-competitive with fossil fuel–based technologies. However, there is no consensus on this point considering the wide variations in factors that influence the levelized costs of electricity across countries and technologies. This study calculates more than 4,000 levelized costs of electricity for 11 technologies, varying key input variables. The study shows that the levelized costs of electricity for renewable electricity technologies, except concentrated solar and offshore...
Energy is at the heart of development. It makes possible the investments, innovations, human capital development, and new industries that are the engines of jobs, inclusive growth, and shared prosperity for entire economies. At the same time, the world faces the existential challenge of global climate change. The World Bank’s ability to respond to energy challenges and client demand has been supported by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). This year, an additional global crisis arrived in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the World Bank pivoted to provide an emergency response, the challenge for its energy sector...
The call for urgent action to address climate change and develop more sustainable modes of energy delivery is generally recognized. It is also apparent that batteries, both in the transportation and the power sectors, need to play a predominant role if the global community is to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. Simply put, nations’ efforts will focus largely on electrifying transportation systems to be supported by power systems that deliver low carbon energy, using a range of renewable technologies. Stationary batteries will play a critical role in not only providing direct energy services, but also in acting as...
Energy transitions are underway in many countries, with a significant global increase in the use of wind and solar power playing a key role. To integrate renewable resources into grids, energy storage will be key. Storage will allow for the increased use of wind and solar power, which can not only increase access to power in developing countries, but also increase the resilience of energy systems. Energy storage solutions can also improve grid reliability, stability, and power quality which are essential to promoting the productive uses of energy. This brief on energy storage partnership focuses on its performance as of...
The recent advances in battery technology and reductions in battery costs have brought battery energy storage systems (BESS) to the point of becoming increasingly cost-effective projects to serve a range of power sector interventions, especially when combined with PV and where diesel is the alternative, or where subsidies or incentives are used. Quantifying the economic impact of BESS requires a high level of temporal granularity in the analysis, because the time-steps required for a reliable assessment of costs and benefits are much shorter than the usual annual time steps of many power sector investment projects. In short, there is as...
Battery technology is evolving at a breathtaking pace. As performance improves and costs fall, batteries are already critical for consumer electronics, such as mobile phones, and are paving the way for the electric vehicle market. The battery revolution doesn’t end there. Battery systems are also transforming intermittent renewable energy - such as solar and wind - by making them much more financially attractive. Investors are taking notice. But while the versatility of batteries makes them attractive, it is difficult to determine their economic value. Understanding where and why batteries are most successful remains challenging, as each situation is different based...
In developing countries, battery storage is becoming a viable way to increase system flexibility and enable more integration of variable renewable energy. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) respond rapidly to control signals, are easy to deploy, and are benefiting from cost reduction trends. New battery technologies have valuable attributes that are well suited to the needs of developing countries. However, they have a rather short track record in terms of deployment and operation, and this can hamper efforts to reassure buyers and investors that these new technologies will perform reliably over their project life. Conditions found in some developing countries...
This paper reviews recent developments in biofuel markets and their economic, social and environmental impacts. Several countries have introduced mandates and targets for biofuel expansion. Production, international trade and investment have increased sharply in the past few years. However, several existing studies have blamed biofuels as one of the key factors behind the 2007-2008 global food crisis, although the magnitudes of impacts in these studies vary widely depending on the underlying assumptions and structure of the models. Existing studies also have huge disparities in the magnitude of long-term impacts of biofuels on food prices and supply; studies that model only...
The project “Regional potential assessment of novel bio energy crops in fifteen ECOWAS countries” was started by the different project partners based on the need to make an overall assessment of a series of novel potential bio energy crops which can or could be grown and processed in the future in the 15 ECOWAS countries. This project fits in a broader strategic analysis of alternative energy needs and production, the key mandate of the main funding partner in the project, ECREEE. The project partners deliberately excluded conventional “bio energy” crops like sugarcane, oil palm, maize or sunflower as target crops,...
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