The pace of energy transition shall be significantly increased - because climate change requires swift solutions. With the increasing shift away from fossil fuels, renewable energies are now pushing all the more into focus. Global figures confirm the upward trend, especially in wind power and photovoltaics. To be able for the development to succeed, solutions and components from the valve industry are required.
According to the Global Wind Report 2022 of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), global wind power capacity increased by 93.6 gigawatts in 2021 to a cumulative total capacity of 837 gigawatts, "which corresponds to a growth of twelve percent compared to the previous year." Even so: Although the wind energy is on a positive growth path, “it is not growing nearly rapidly or far enough to achieve a safe and resilient global energy transition.” At current installation rates, GWEC Market Intelligence forecasts that by 2030 less than two-thirds of the wind energy capacity required for a 1.5°C and net-zero path will be available, “which means we will miss our climate targets.”
The global photovoltaic market also grew significantly last year, according to preliminary data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). According to the PVPS (Photovoltaic Power Systems) photovoltaic programme of the IEA, photovoltaic systems with an output of approximately 175 gigawatts were installed in 2021. This means that the photovoltaic power installed worldwide at the end of 2021 will have a cumulative total capacity of around 942 gigawatts – and is likely to have exceeded 1,000 gigawatts by now. Photovoltaics currently covers around five percent of the world's electricity demand.
Energy-efficient technology in demand
According to experts, in order to achieve the climate targets, the growth rates of renewable energies must once again increase significantly. Regardless of the level of increase, it is however clear that "the energy transition was and is a huge innovation programme for the industry," as explains Dr. Simone Peter, President of the German Renewable Energy Association (BEE). By 2050, up to 800,000 additional jobs could be created in Germany alone. The global potential of an energy transition is also enormous. New opportunities are developing for the marketing of energy-efficient, modern technology and the acceleration of the urgently needed digitalisation of the energy system.
Suppliers of individual industrial components have good prospects as they face a global growth market. Perspectives that OHL Gutermuth has been successfully using for many years. The company supplied special valves for the construction of the largest Concentrated Solar Power plant in Dubai. The Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park is the largest CSP facility in the world with a capacity of 1,100 MW of energy. An order as many for OHL Gutermuth. "We have already delivered our special valves to Spain, China, North and South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and North and Central America," emphasizes Managing Director Wolfgang Röhrig.
Projects are shooting out of the ground
Numerous orders in the wind power industry are also in the pipeline. For the Sunrise Wind offshore wind project east of Long Island's Montauk Point in the State of New York, MRC Global Norway AS supplies the entire range of valves, instruments, pipelines and hoses. The company was commissioned by Aker Solutions, which is responsible for the offshore platform.
The Sunrise Wind Project will be the largest offshore wind farm by power generation capacity in the state of New York. The 924 MW project, located over 30 miles off the coast east of Long Island's Montauk Point, will be sufficient to power nearly 600,000 households and provide 100% renewable energy to realize New York's vision of becoming a leader in clean energy. The Sunrise Wind Project is a joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource.
The number of wind power projects is increasing worldwide. This can also be seen in the construction of wind farms, for example by the Nordex Group. On behalf of Statkraft, the largest producer of renewable energies in Europe, 19 plants are being built in Chile. Nordex Group also supplies 41 turbines for a wind farm in the USA. For example, Vattenfall is building the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm.
