Energy storage company Wärtsilä has calculated that deploying balancing power generation technologies – as opposed to renewables only coupled with energy storage – could save €65 trillion by 2050.
Its report, Crossroads to net zero, compared two pathways from 2025–2050 with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming.
“The modelling shows that a power system including balancing power has significant advantages when it comes to both cost and CO₂ reductions,” it said.
“The model reveals that this pathway would generate cumulative savings of €65 trillion by 2050 compared to a renewables-only pathway, due to less renewable capacity needed. This would average €2.5 trillion per year – an equivalent to over 2% of 2024’s global GDP.”
Using balancing power allows for enhanced power system optimisation, resulting in 88% less wasted energy due to renewable curtailment by 2050, compared with a renewable and energy storage-only pathway, it claimed. In total, 458,000TWh of curtailments would be avoided, enough to power the whole world with the current electricity consumption for more than 15 years, the report forecast.
It also believes the approach can reduce the total cumulative power sector CO₂ emissions up to 2050 by 21% (19 Gt), compared to the renewables and storage-only path.
Håkan Agnevall, CEO and president of Wärtsilä, said: “We have all the technologies we need to accelerate the shift to renewables-led power systems – but going green is not black or white. Renewable-led power systems require flexibility in various forms: energy storage alongside balancing power plants utilising gas as a transition fuel, before sustainable fuels are available, are critical to reach global climate goals.”
