Renewables will be an important part of the global energy mix with rising global energy requirements and the need to reduce carbon emissions, according to Christian Rynning-Tonnesen, CEO of Norwegian Statkraft on Wednesday.
'The future calls for more energy but less carbon. With more people, we need more energy,' Tonnesen said.
In his speech at the ONS 2016 Energy Conference in Norway's Stavanger city, he said energy demand will grow mostly in emerging economies and emphasized the need for renewables to have a bigger share in the energy mix.
'Renewable energy costs are going down, and there is strong growth in renewable energy and its production, especially in wind and solar,' he stressed.
The CEO said that the share of renewables in global energy production is 22 percent at present, and is forecast to reach to between 42 and 55 percent by 2035.
He said that the estimated growth in generation capacity between 2016 and 2035 in Turkey, India, Brazil, Chile and Peru is 235 gigawatts in total, 60 gigawatts from hydro, 95 from wind and 80 from solar power.
As part of the shift towards renewables, Tonnesen said that electric cars will dominate global car sales by 2035.
Statkraft estimates that this will increase for the current 0.5 percent to between 21 and 40 percent in 2035.
Statkraft's global installed capacity is 18,650 megawatts in the company's areas of operation in the U.S., Turkey, Belgium, Albania, Norway and Sweden.
The company's power production from these sources is around 56 terawatt hours.
By Murat Temizer in Stavanger, Norway
Anadolu Agency
murat.temizer@aa.com.tr