The photo is sourced from iea.org
large extent due to the low base effect. At the same time, the absolute growth, which will reach $23bn by the end of this year is also impressive. For example, in the energy production segment, higher growth rates will be typical only for oil production and electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES), where investments will increase by $28 billion and $63 billion, respectively. The investment geography will not be limited to OECD countries, which include mainly the developed economies of Europe, North America and East Asia. For example, in China, capital investments in energy storage and CO2 capture will grow from $9 billion in 2022 to $15 billion in 2023.
The increase in investment in these sectors of the world energy is directly related to the growing interest in reduction of greenhouse emission and rapid development of RES, which are highly dependent on the weather conditions. For example, the average utilisation of wind and solar generators in the United States in March 2023 was 41% and 22%, while for gas-fired combined cycle power plants (one of the most common types of thermal power plants) – 53%, and for nuclear power plants – 89%. Need to maintain power supply during cloudy and calm weather stimulates investments in construction of energy storage systems, which will increase in North America from $6 billion to $13 billion by the end of 2023. In its turn, impossibility to completely abandon coal in the power sector dictates the need to implement carbon capture, use and storage systems (CCUS).
The development of new technologies that expand choices for industrial consumers still remains an investment driver. For example, not only amine-based solvents but also organometallic frameworks have recently been used for CO2 capture, but also organometallic frameworks – crystalline porous metal ions based materials able to retain foreign substances and release them when temperature and pressure change. In its turn, not only lithium-ion batteries are used for energy storage, but also the so-called non-flow zinc-bromine batteries, which use a chemical reaction between bromine and zinc for electric current production, and a helium solution of zinc bromide for conductivity provision. Such batteries are resistant to high temperatures and do not require special fire-fighting systems, which distinguishes them from lithium-ion batteries.
