Truth To Power

IntelStor

Truth to Power is a weekly editorial from IntelStor Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro. It examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables.

  1. 3D AGO

    Truth to Power - Episode Special

    On this special episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro presents the highlights of the new global #windenergy forecast.   The global market for onshore wind energy is 1.2 TW as of the end of 2025, with capacity installed in over 149 countries. Onshore wind energy may still be behind hydropower in installed capacity as of the end of 2025, but by the end of 2026, it will become the #2 renewable energy technology installed globally.   The popularity of the technology has been down to cost efficiencies on both capital expenditure and levelized cost of energy. Asset owners have seen overwhelmingly positive returns on their investments, and the technology has been one of the most capital efficient when leveraging public finance or support.   Another 573.8 GW of capacity should be installed globally by 2030 with the Asia Pacific region leading the way, followed by the Americas, then Europe. This will add another 35.5% to the existing installed capacity. Africa & the Middle East still have a way to go in order to catch up to the rest of the world on installed capacity. However, they will continue with the resource exploitation as Saudi and UAE based investors have not only sought to increase their footprint of wind energy investments globally, but also support regional growth.   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

    9 min
  2. MAR 18

    Truth to Power - Episode 40

    On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro analyzes the capacity additions and market share of #renewableenergy within the Americas region from the IntelStor Future of Renewables #marketresearch Report.   While the region is still majority dependent on fossil fuels, 2025 ended with renewables at ~47% with non- renewable sources at 53% in terms of capacity installed.   The USA dominates the world with more than 478.5 GW installed, with solar PV now outpacing onshore wind and both outpacing hydropower. Solar PV in Central and South America has the largest growth potential and many countries are moving forward with capacity auctions that are specifically dedicated to renewable power generation sources.   Hydropower still leads the region with a 37.4% market share followed closely by solar PV at 30%. Solar PV will overtake hydropower in market share in the Americas in 2026, as wind energy also continues to grow. Wind energy ended 2025 at 24.1% market share in the Americas but is also poised to at least match or possibly overtake hydropower by 2030 if expected non-USA capacity additions continue to thrive.   Annual capacity additions will be led by solar PV with between 27 – 35 GW annually for the next 5 years. Onshore wind will comprise the next largest tranche of capacity additions with between 8 – 17 GW annually spurred on by the end of subsidies in the USA as well as growth in other markets such as Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Colombia, Peru and Ecuador are also pursuing more renewables, led by wind, as well as solar PV.   We expect another 22.7% growth in the next 5 years, with solar PV achieving 460 GW installed region-wide, hydropower maintaining 377 GW, and onshore wind achieving at least 306 GW.   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

    9 min
  3. MAR 11

    Truth to Power - Episode 39

    On this week’s episode of #TruthtoPower, IntelStor's Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro dives into the feed in tariffs finance and capital efficiency of #renewableenergy within the Africa & Middle East region from the IntelStor Future of Renewables #marketresearch Report.   Many countries are simply not sophisticated enough to have a market in which FiTs could be offered or are necessary to offer, given that a government controlled utility company is typically the power offtaker. FiTs have ranged from US$70.57 for hydropower to US$113.21 for solar PV.   Overall, according to OECD reported data, Africa & Middle Eastern countries have received more than $102 billion in the past 25 years.   Historically, hydropower received the largest allocation of public finance on a yearly basis, ranging from 26% all the way up to 89% more than 20 years ago. Since 2014, solid biofuels have seen a surge in funding allocation, having previously seen 5 – 15% of annual funding.   Solar PV is the most capital efficient of all the renewable technologies in the Africa & Middle East region. Just US$52,000 per installed MW in public finance is spent to deploy the 43 GW that has been installed. Meanwhile, technologies like solid biofuels which has received a surge in funding throughout the region recently has shown poor performance in capital efficiency, with almost US$8.4 million per installed MW.   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

    8 min
  4. MAR 4

    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

    11 min
  5. FEB 25

    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

    6 min

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Truth to Power is a weekly editorial from IntelStor Founder & CEO, Philip Totaro. It examines data driven insights for the energy sector, with a focus on renewables.