Truth To Power

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro continues analysis from the IntelStor Future of Renewables #marketresearch Report to look at generation and efficiency, as well as finance data for all global regions.

The world has generated a collective 10.795 petawatt hours of renewable energy as of the end of 2025 with 52.24% of global generation coming from Asia Pacific, 26% coming from the Americas, 18.97% coming from Europe and just 2.8% coming from Africa & the Middle East. By 2030, we expect to see a total generation of close to 13 petawatt hours with the distribution largely the same globally.

Europe leads the world with the highest average capacity factor across all technologies, but also leads 7 of 12 renewable energy technology categories as well. The shift away from hydropower to more solar PV and wind energy has led to an overall reduction in capacity factors across the renewable technologies since 2000.

Feed in tariffs (FiTs) have helped the world to see the rapid growth of renewable energy in the past 25 years. The average prices paid per region range from US$63.76/MWhr in the Americas to US$112.31/MWhr in Europe.

Total expenditure of public finance for renewable energy technologies in the past 25 years has been US$396.6 billion, with 29.6% in the Americas 25.8% in Africa & Middle East, 22.3% in Asia Pacific and 22.3% in Europe. Curiously, solid biofuels have seen a surge in spending coming close to 50% of the total annual allocation.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the global #renewableenergy industry.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/e98Z9qs3

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro dissect the costs to the US offshore wind sector from the stop work orders as well as the tariffs which have been enacted.

The financial impact of the US administration’s stop work orders on the construction of the five offshore wind farms in the USA have totaled more than $515 million. On top of this, the impact of tariffs imposed by the US administration has added another $1.06 billion to the total cost as well.

These ill-considered actions have driven total cost for these five projects to more than $28.4 billion and the average cost to more than $5 million per installed megawatt (MW). That average cost per MW is substantially higher than the average cost per MW in Europe during the early days of the offshore wind industry. The developers bear the burden of these costs overruns, and it reduces their margins.

Tariffs have added 4.4% to the cost of Revolution Wind, 4.95% to the cost of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and 5.44% to the total cost of Sunrise Wind. The tariff impact on Empire Wind and Vineyard Wind was lower, but still appreciable at 2.15% and 0.58% respectively, because much of the component sourcing was already completed prior to the tariffs being enacted.

The stop work orders on these five projects have also contributed substantially to project costs with each developer incurring a cost increase equivalent to approx. 1.2 - 2.6% of the total project cost.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #offshorewind industry in the USA or #renewableenergy markets in any country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/e98Z9qs3

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro returns to to the IntelStor Future of Renewables Report to get more analysis on the regional breakdown of the capacity, generation & finance data.

Solar PV leads the world in capacity installed, thanks to China’s 991 GW capacity bolstering the Asia Pacific region. Without China, solar PV still has over 340GW installed in the region due in part to a strong adoption rate in Vietnam, and neighboring southeast Asian countries.

Due to the growth in onshore wind in China and other global markets, that technology will end 2026 as second in cumulative installed capacity behind solar PV and overtaking hydropower. The Asia Pacific region is globally dominant due to China, but the Americas appear poised to overtake Europe within the next 5 years due to growth in solar PV, onshore as well as offshore wind as well.

APAC will see between 175 and 300 GW per year with China accounting for at least 70% of that total. Europe will see between 55 and 75GW of new capacity per year through 2030, with the Americas being reduced to 50 – 65 GW per year due to a pullback in the USA and limitations in other major markets in the region such as Brazil. Africa remains concerning with only 6 – 9 GW of capacity additions per year, and lacks investment in transmission infrastructure that is necessary to grow renewable energy capacity in the region.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy markets in any country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/e98Z9qs3

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro discusses how the commercial implementation of new solar technology will unlock a repowering and efficiency revolution that could double the amount of solar used on the grid.

Efficiency improvements in solar cells are being introduced all the time by various research entities and industry companies who have invested heavily in developing technologies with more robust performance. The latest approach is a perovskite-based cell. That is a calcium titanium oxide mineral which researches have been investigating for use in solar cells since the early 2010’s.

China’s LONGi has seen efficiencies of between 34 – 35% more recently as they continue to develop 2-terminal monolithic perovskite based cells.

With the bulk of the global solar capacity having been installed in the past 15 years, there will be a time within the next 5 – 10 years when solar PV asset repowering will need to be undertaken. Solar asset repowering should cost less than half that wind energy asset repowering, at approximately US$175,000 / MW versus US$425,000 / MW respectively.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy markets in any country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://www.intelstor.com/research-notes-subscription

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro continues a look into the future of the renewable energy market globally, looking at our power generation forecasts and the impact of public finance on renewable energy adoption rates.

All renewable energy sources combined generate over 10.7 petawatt hours of power as of the end of 2025. By 2030 that will be close to 13 petawatt hours per year, an increase of more than 22.5%.

In 2025, capacity factors have ranged from 11.26% for marine energy (ocean current and tidal), up to a global average of 54.56% for geothermal. Despite being inexpensive from a capital standpoint, solar PV only boasts a 14.87% capacity factor globally, and onshore wind saw a 24.23% capacity factor.

More than US$529 billion in public funding has been spent on the global power generation sector in the past 25 years. Of that, US$396.6 billion, or 75% has been spent on renewables. Solar PV, biogas and onshore wind are the most capital efficient renewable power sources. Meanwhile, concentrated solar, geothermal and solid biofuels are the least capital efficient renewable power sources.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy markets in any country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/e98Z9qs3

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro kicks off a new series with a deep dive into the future of the renewable energy market globally, with the launch of our latest global market forecast.

The most important outcome is that renewable energy is now 50% of the power generation mix. Capacity additions across all renewable energy technologies now total 4.89TW globally with solar PV leading the way, followed by hydropower then onshore wind.

The world went from 25% renewables as part of the power generation mix in 2000 to just over 50% in only 25 years. IntelStor is also able to forecast that based on a 2 – 3% growth rate for renewable energy vs non-renewables, the world will eliminate fossil fuels before 2050 and could even eliminate dependence on nuclear technology for power generation as well.

Solar PV leads the world with more than 2 TW installed globally as of the end of 2025. Onshore wind will overtake hydropower as the second largest renewable power generation source by capacity installed in 2026.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy markets in any country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://www.intelstor.com/subscriptions

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro digs into the ruling made yesterday by US Federal District Court Judge Patti Saris regarding the president’s executive order halting wind and solar permitting in the USA, and the impact on the US #offshorewind market.

Since January when the executive order was issued and since April when Empire Wind saw their project construction halted, there have been six projects worth a total of more than $15 billion in project CapEx and another $10 billion in economic benefit which were stopped from active development.

Project developers who were directly impacted by the executive order to halt permitting could now use this ruling to sue the US Federal Government. They can try to recoup the billions they have lost resulting from project delays, or an inability to proceed with construction due to the lack of issuance of permit(s) which are subject to federal jurisdiction.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy market in the USA or any other country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/grfixJn

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro discusses the pending changes to the day-ahead market in California & Western US, and the impact that will have on renewable energy curtailments as well as capacity additions.

As we approach 2026, the CAISO led initiative to establish what they call the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) has PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric entering the market next year already. PGE has more than a gigawatt of #windenergy and solar to offer and PacifiCorp has more than 1.2 GW that could be fed into this new market.

In California alone, CAISO estimates that 64% of solar curtailments would be avoided and 61% of wind energy curtailments would be avoided in the EDAM. That translates into more than $1 billion in annual savings vs the WEIM (spot / intraday market).

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy market in the USA or any other country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/grfixJn

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro concludes the analysis IntelStor has completed on #windenergy asset profitability & the prospects for the O&M market in the USA.

The average cost of maintenance for wind energy assets in the USA is $6.44 / MWhr produced. It’s pretty clear that as assets age they become more expensive to maintain. However, as assets age, the maintenance cost will escalate at different rates.

If we look at the average age of a drop in energy yield from a P50 to a P75, we tend to see an average in the USA of just under 11 years. This is partly due to asset management style, but also varies by OEM equipment. Some asset owners are deliberately running turbines into the ground to maximize their PTC revenue, then repower after 10 years.

Since that operational model is slowly going away with the loss of the PTCs by the end of 2027, owners are now looking at who shows the best resilience. We plotted that at IntelStor with a breakdown by OEM equipment, and the results were very interesting.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy market in the USA or any other country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/grfixJn

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro continues a deep dive on some of the analysis IntelStor has completed on #windenergy asset profitability & the prospects for the O&M market in the USA.

A total of $63 billion has been doled out to wind energy IPPs since 1992. That investment by the US government has unlocked more than $750 billion in investment in wind energy the USA, including over $245 billion in CapEx on wind farm projects and the rest on factories to make components as well as services.

But there are some asset owners who have developed a dependence on PTCs. The independent power producers who have at least a gigawatt or more installed in the USA have a variety of approaches to how they leverage PTC revenue.

There are only 3 out of the top 30 asset owners when ranked by % of PTC revenue vs total revenue who have a profitability that is at or above the market average of just around $1.1 million per MW. Those who are above the profitability average, are owners who tend to have a financial partner invested in the portfolio.

An asset portfolio that is overly dependent on PTCs is less likely to achieve the highest levels of profitability in the USA. Consistently high PPAs have more of an influence on long-term sustained asset profitability.

Have a listen today, and get in touch with your best questions about the #renewableenergy market in the USA or any other country around the world.

This show examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables. To subscribe to IntelStor Research Notes and get early access to our latest content as well as these Truth to Power weekly editorials, visit https://lnkd.in/grfixJn