Truth To Power

Truth to Power - Episode 38

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro examines the #windenergy projects in the USA which would benefit from a new power offtake agreement with data centers.
 
On this week’s episode I’ll take a look at the wind energy projects in the USA which would benefit from a new power offtake agreement with data centers. They are spread across 231 project sites in 31 states, which is approximately 9.4% of the installed capacity for onshore wind energy in the USA.
 
There are currently more than 31 million enterprise industrial servers installed throughout the USA with a total electricity consumption of approximately 185 terrawatt hours (TWhrs). They have an average power per processing unit (either a central processor or graphics processor) between 500 watt hours and 6 kilowatt hours per unit.
 
These additions for the data center industry will necessitate approximately 94 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation capacity which would be required to operate at an average capacity factor of at least 32%.
 
Asset owners and project operators need to leverage data center power sales that can turn around failing projects and use the data center demand as a way to ensure they never run into an asset profitability challenge again.
 
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

Truth to Power - Episode 37

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro looks at generation and operational efficiency of #renewableenergy within the Africa & the Middle East region from the IntelStor Future of Renewables #marketresearch Report.
As of 2025, hydropower dropped to 62.4% market share with solar PV gaining momentum to 22.6% wind at 7.9% and geothermal at 3.3%. Solar PV and onshore wind will continue to take share away from hydropower.
Hydropower leads on capacity factor across all technologies, but given the efficiency displayed by biogas, it is unsurprising that they have seen growth in capacity installed seeing some large projects come online in 2015 and 2021 which boosted generation.
While hydropower has been able to maintain a capacity factor between 37 – 44%, technologies like biogas and even geothermal have shown a reduction in average capacity factor over time.
This is curious and concerning since newer generations of technologies typically result in higher capacity factors and should at least allow newly installed capacity to sustain the average capacity factor of the entire installed base as older asset age.
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

Truth to Power - Episode 36

On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro takes a deep dive from the IntelStor Future of Renewables #marketresearch Report to look at #renewableenergy within each global region, starting with Africa & the Middle East.
 
The Africa & Middle Eastern region represent the largest opportunity and need for renewable energy deployment in order to offset a staggering dependence on fossil fuels which still exists today. The region has been overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels for the past century. The most mature countries economically have benefited the most from the energy transition, with South Africa, Egypt, UAE and Ethiopia leading the way.
 
Hydropower still dominates, but it is poised to be overtaken by solar PV capacity installations in 2026 within the Africa & Middle East region. Annual capacity additions will continue to be driven by solar PV, but hydropower, onshore wind, geothermal, concentrated solar power and solid biofuels will all see growth in the next five years.
 
By 2030, solar PV should have more than 69 GW installed, up from 42 GW today, and another 15 GW of cumulative wind energy capacity, up from 11.8GW today. Even though the region has just under 43 GW of hydropower already, we only expect 3 GW of capacity growth in the next 5 years.
 
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

Truth to Power - Episode 35

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

Truth to Power - Episode 34

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

Truth to Power - Episode 33

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

Truth to Power - Episode 32

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

Truth to Power - Episode 31

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

Truth to Power - Episode 30

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

Truth to Power - Episode 29

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