Investments of 2000 bn. EUR needed to fuel the energy transition in Europe

Decarbonizing the energy supply requires huge investments in low-carbon technologies. In our new Technology Outlook, we investigate which technologies will drive the transition, and which new technologies may be added to the mix? What are cost drivers, and will the historic cost reductions continue?

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THEMA’s Technology Outlook provides a detailed analysis of key decarbonisation technologies in terms of historic development, cost drivers and cost projections and market impacts. The report covers onshore and offshore wind, solar PV, batteries, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, bioenergy and e-fuels.

The energy transition will not be successful without considerable investments in these technologies. Based on model results, we try to predict the investments necessary to reach the net-zero goal by 2050 and their distribution across different technology types and different European regions. We find that investments of roughly 2 000 billion EUR are necessary in the modelled region, covering 21 European countries. This corresponds to 75 billion EUR each year or roughly 0.6% of the GDP of the EU-27 in 2020.

In this edition’s Special Issue we dare to take a look into the crystal ball: We select four areas of interest and take a closer look at potential high-impact innovations that have yet to see full market impact. These areas are new production technologies such as tidal & wave energy, phase-changing materials and their application in thermal energy storage, local flexibility and energy sharing and latest advances in the hydrogen value chain.

The report provides the readers with valuable technological insights, helps to understand the context and role the technologies have and thus enables them to create their own vision for the power system in 2050.

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