The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has published its Renewable Energy Statistics 2024 report, showing a record 14% year-on-year growth in installed renewable power capacity from 2022 to 2023.
The report found that the world’s renewable power capacity will need to increase by 16.4% year-on-year to meet the world’s 2030 climate targets. At the current pace of increase, the world is on track to install 9.7TW of clean energy; at COP28 agreed climate targets included renewable power capacity installations reaching 11.2TW.
Francesco La Camera, IRENA director-general, said: “Our new report sheds light on the direction of travel; if we continue with the current growth rate, we will only face failure in reaching the tripling renewables target agreed in the UAE Consensus at COP28, consequently risking the goals of the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
IRENA figures show that variable renewables have steadily increased their share of the global electricity mix, accounting for 40.2% in 2022. Wind power was the second-largest source of renewable electricity, after hydropower, and saw a 14% increase from 2021 to 2022.
Solar energy has been the fastest-growing renewable energy source in recent years, generating just under 1.3TWh in 2022. In fact, as of last year, installed solar PV capacity exceeded that of both wind and hydropower globally.
Cumulative installed solar PV capacity has changed over the last decade, with China operating more than double the capacity of Europe as of the end of 2023. Still, Europe is the second-largest market, maintaining its lead over Asian countries (excluding China).
As seen above, in 2020 Asia reached an equal cumulative capacity to Europe.
In order to meet global 2030 climate targets, it will be vital to encourage growth outside of historically dominant markets. The IRENA figures show that in South America, renewable power generation increased by nearly 12% between 2022 and 2023, whereas growth in Africa was a more “modest” 3.5%.
“Consolidated global figures conceal ongoing patterns of concentration in geography,” said La Camera. “These patterns threaten to exacerbate the decarbonisation divide and pose a significant barrier to achieving the tripling target.”
This article was originally published on our sister site, PV Tech.
