Renewables will be the world’s principal source of power by 2040 and are penetrating world grids faster than any other energy source in history, O&G major BP has said.

BP today published its outdated Energy Outlook for 2019, revising upwards its forecasts for the penetration of renewables out to 2040.

Its Outlook, which establishes four potential scenarios based on various trends, argues that renewables are penetrating the world’s energy mix quicker than any other fuel source in history and, combined with gas, will account for 85% of growth in energy supply over the next two decades.

Young adult doing professional training on solar panels plant
Its most central scenario, dubbed ‘Evolving Transition’, is based on assumptions that technology and policy will evolve at a similar pace as it has already.

By 2040, BP expects renewables to account for around 30% of the world’s power supply driven predominantly by significant penetration throughout Europe. European nations will derive more than half – 55% – of their power from renewables by 2040, a factor which in itself is expected to cause intermittency issues towards the end of the Outlook.

And much of that growth is expected to come from solar PV. Globally, BP expects solar generation capacity to grow by a factor of 10 between now and 2040, twice the growth factor of wind, as the technology penetrates even further into markets the world over.

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