Whereas traditionally the sector has been dominated by government control and monopoly structures, several developments are leading to more private participation in the power generation sector, and to the related globalization of the electric supply industry. Power generating capacity world-wide will nearly double between 1995 and 2020. Generating capacity is forecast to reach 5,400 GW in 2020, up from 2,900 GW in 1995. Increasing demands are being placed on the utility companies to improve their environmental performance, particularly with the introduction of renewable sources of energy. As far as existing renewable sources of energy are concerned, hydro-electricity is widespread, but has its own environmental and social costs.
Future installations are likely to be small scale.
Wind and solar energy technologies, in recent years, have become much more efficient, are modular, and cost per unit of energy has been falling rapidly. However, both suffer from being intermittent and are uncompetitive when compared to base load coal and gas generation. Existing energy sources restrict the progress of society. Present fuel sources are limited , cause serious environmental destruction , and continue to be costly to consumers and industry . Scientists have been attempting to devise new energy sources to solve our insatiable energy appetite, but the journey has been challenging.