There are increased calls for companies and corporate organizations to invest more in the renewable energy sector. Renewable power has proven its resilience to the crisis and has a high chance of increasing energy access not only during the Covid-19 pandemic era but also post the pandemic.
In a recent report published by International Energy Agency (IEA), 90% of the increased total power capacity worldwide in 2020 will be accounted for by renewables and is expected to increase further in 2021. That will see the fastest growth of this sector as was last seen six years ago.
The fact that global energy demand is set to fall by 10% due to sharp declines triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has given renewable energy the power to grow robustly as the generation of energy from fossil fuels reaches a breaking point.
The electricity sector for instance has played a critical role in keeping essential services, hospitals and communication running and flowing. That has since called for even greater investment because modern societies today need resilient power systems for a sustainable future.
That means that there is an opportunity for societies to build ‘back better’ using low Carbon technologies and create more resilient and sustainable energy systems even post-pandemic.
In 2020, China and the US were noted to be the driving force behind the new additions of renewable power capacity with wind, hydropower and solar panels leading in the rise. IEA report, however, says that Europe and India will lead the renewable surge in 2021 by 10%; The fastest growth since 2015.
All these renewable surges have been accelerated by Covid-19 that has firmly portrayed the role that accesses to reliable electricity plays in protecting health and well-being, key supply chains, people’s livelihoods and countries’ economies.
This has since intensified the urgency to expand sustainable solutions worldwide with countries taking into consideration the gains already attained and accelerating the efforts to achieve affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets by 2030.
In Kenya, Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV) is taking a similar path by investing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in clean technology sectors such as Ofgen, which constructs solar-powered stations complete with back-up storage batteries. KCV believes it will make their dream of helping both commercial and industrial businesses make savings from energy costs and lower their carbon footprint while at the same time creating more green jobs come true because their main objective is to ensure startups scale up and create more sustainable opportunities.
Renewable energy, therefore, has a high potential of driving a post-covid-19 recovery. It is an eye-opener to countries, companies and corporates, and it is time for them to rethink on directing investments towards a green and healthy recovery. It has the potential of revitalizing the economy by creating green jobs, ensuring energy security and strengthening resilience.
