The Covid-19 pandemic is having a major impact on energy systems around the world, curbing investments and threatening to slow the expansion of key clean energy technologies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday. The IEA has said that its annual Tracking Clean Energy Progress report has shown that only six out of 46 technologies and sectors were on track to meet long-term sustainability goals in 2019.

The six technologies and sectors include electric vehicles, rail transport and lighting. Another 24 showed some progress, but not enough to meet long-term goals, while the remaining 16 were woefully off track. Before the crisis, progress on clean energy technologies had been promising, but uneven.

Lockdown impact

The IAE said in its report that the lockdown measures have significantly reduced electricity demand, which has, in turn, affected the power mix. As increases in residential demand have been far outweighed by reductions in commercial and industrial operations, every month of full lockdown reduced demand by 20 per cent on average or over 1.5 per cent on an annual basis.

Demand reductions have resulted in renewable sources of energy making up a larger share of the electricity supply because their output is largely unaffected by demand, while demand for electricity generated from all other sources such as coal, gas and nuclear power fell.

The IEA said that it has been at the forefront of calls for governments to put clean energy at the heart of their economic recovery plans following the Covid-19 crisis. The stimulus packages are a unique opportunity to drive economic development by accelerating transitions towards more secure and sustainable energy systems.

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