Strong Policy Framework Vital For Renewable Energy Development In North & South America
A strong policy framework is vital for the development of renewable energy in North and South America, says GlobalData in new report.
GlobalData, a global intelligence provider for the energy and healthcare industries, has released its North and South America Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2015 report, which concludes not only that “the growth of the US renewable energy sector has been led by the state-level Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and other tax incentives and subsidies” but that, unsurprisingly, the US is “the largest generator of renewable energy” in North and South America.
However, importantly, while the US is the largest generator of renewable energy and also has the largest installed renewable power capacity, there is strong growth throughout the rest of North and South America. Canada is seeing strong growth, while Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are each seeing growth at various levels.
And these growth levels are all the result of strong government policy supporting the renewable energy industry.
GlobalData concludes that the “tremendous growth in Canada’s renewable market is due to the provision of strong government policy support in the form of incentives and [Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs)].” This policy support for renewable energy in Canada is absolutely vital, considering that Canada is now among the top per-capita consumers of power in the world, and the sixth-largest producer of electric power in the world.
Wind power dominates Canada’s renewable energy industry, accounting for 56.3% of the country’s renewable energy capacity in 2014. This is followed by small-hydro, which accounts for 3.8 GW.
Similarly, the report also finds that it is strong policy frameworks in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico that is behind those countries’ renewable energy growth. Specifically, one look at the significant growth of Brazil’s renewable energy industry — which between 2001 and 2014 grew from 2.9 GW to an impressive 22.2 GW — and it is no surprise that much of this is owed “to the support of a variety of federal policies and measures.”
GlobalData also released a similar report for the Asia-Pacific Region earlier this month, which — as with the North and South America report — highlighted one country as being the major player thanks to strong policy frameworks — China.
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