A report released today (1 June) by the International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that global additions of renewable power capacity will jump by a third in 2023.
Continued growth in renewable energy generation sites and projects will see the world’s total renewable electricity capacity rise to 4,500GW next year, added the IEA.
In total, global renewable capacity additions for 2023 are set to increase by 107GW (the largest absolute increase to date) to more than 440GW.
According to the Renewable Energy Market Update report, much of this momentum is driven by a strong drive in the deployment of wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) caused by growing policy support, higher fossil fuel prices and energy security concerns.
Following a couple of years of slow growth, the IEA has revealed that wind power additions are forecast to rebound significantly in 2023, increasing by almost 70% year-on-year.
The faster growth is predominantly due to the completion of projects that had been delayed by supply chain issues in Europe and the UK as well as Covid-19 restrictions in China.
The report warned that if this upward trajectory is to continue into 2024, governments’ must provide greater policy support to streamline permitting and auctioning processes.
Less than two weeks into 2023 saw UK wind generation set a new record generating 21.62GW on 10 January.
This followed a string of wind generation records broken throughout 2022 including 19.936GW on 26 October, 20.896GW on 2 November and 20.918GW on 30 December.
Record levels of wind generation translated into significant savings for consumers helping to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis. For example, consumers in Northern Ireland saved £500 million collectively last year as wind produced 42% of the nation’s electricity.
However, the IEA warned that wind turbine supply chain growth is failing to match demand over the medium term due to rising commodity prices and supply chain issues reducing manufacturer profitability.
Overall the forecast for renewable capacity additions in Europe has soared by 40% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led many countries to reduce their reliance on Russian gas by boosting their wind and solar uptake.
“Solar and wind are leading the rapid expansion of the new global energy economy. This year, the world is set to add a record-breaking amount of renewables to electricity systems – more than the total power capacity of Germany and Spain combined,” said IEA executive director, Fatih Birol.
“The global energy crisis has shown renewables are critical for making energy supplies not just cleaner but also more secure and affordable – and governments are responding with efforts to deploy them faster. But achieving stronger growth means addressing some key challenges. Policies need to adapt to changing market conditions, and we need to upgrade and expand power grids to ensure we can take full advantage of solar and wind’s huge potential.”