COP29 One Week To Go – The State of Clean Energy Deployment

Tracking progress in clean energy deployment 

A holistic overview of the ever-changing landscape for clean energy deployment allows for assessment of the implications for global energy markets more broadly.  In March 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) initiated a new publication series, the Clean Energy Market Monitor, to track the evolution of clean energy technologies with more granularity as they become more integral to the energy system and energy markets. 

The latest edition, released this month, provides an update in terms of technology deployment trends for selected clean energy technologies for the first half of 2024 and price evolutions up to the second quarter of 2024 for solar PV, electric vehicle batteries, stationary storage batteries, and wind power. 

The latest data points to continued growth, however progress is uneven across different regions and technologies, with the report highlighting the need for more supportive policies to enable countries to navigate the transition. 

The report shows that solar PV continues to lead clean technology deployment, with new additions up 36% from the first half of 2023, increasing by 90% in India, 80% in the United States, and by more than 30% in China over the same period. Electric vehicle sales increased by 25% while new wind power capacity kept pace with the record additions seen in 2023.  

Further, it highlights clean energy transitions show signs of accelerating in emerging market and developing economies outside China. Sales of electric vehicles in these markets doubled compared with the same period in 2023.  

After a spike in the post-pandemic period, clean energy equipment costs have continued to decline. The IEA’s Clean Energy Equipment Price Index shows that in the first half of 2024 alone, solar PV prices have dropped by 20%, grid-scale battery storage prices decreased by almost 10% while equipment prices for wind turbines have dropped by 5% over the last year.   

COP29 and the Climate Action Innovation Zone 

During COP29 in Baku, the final event in the series of COP29-IEA high-level energy transition dialogues will take place, co-chaired by H.E. Mukhtar Babayev, the COP29 President, and the Executive Director of IEA, Dr. Fatih Birol. These dialogues build on those co-hosted by IEA and the COP28 Presidency in 2023 and aim to continue fostering international consensus around pathways to drive energy sector emissions to net zero and limit global warming to the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 °C.  

Next week, the COP29 Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge and the COP29 Green Energy Pledge will launch alongside the associated high-level meeting. The outcomes include aiming to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts by 2030 and committing to green energy zones and corridors, including targets to promote investment, stimulate economic growth, and foster regional cooperation.  

At the same time, the Climate Action Innovation Zone will run 13-15 November. Two of its flagship forums, the Sustainable Innovation Forum and the Hydrogen Transition Summit, will explore the advancement of clean energy deployment across a variety of technologies. 

To spotlight just one of the various panels, Juraj Droba, President of the Bratislava Region, European Committee of the Regions, and Thomas Becker, Managing Director of STRING Megaregion, will discuss how cities, regions and parties working with their transport sectors to empower rapid take up of newer, healthier and faster technologies, such as electric vehicles, on Transition Plans: Establishing best practice for future fit business. 

For the full agenda and further information: Climate Action Innovation Zone