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9.6% Global Growth In Renewables Despite Energy Crisis – IRENA Reports | |
| Sumita Pawar |
The Renewable Capacity Statistics 2023 report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which is based in Abu Dhabi, says that by the end of 2022, the world's renewable generation capacity was 3,372 Gigawatts (GW), which was an increase of 295GW, or 9.6%.
83 percent of the new power capacity that was added last year came from renewable sources.
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The report also shows that, despite global uncertainties, renewable energy continues to grow at record rates, confirming the downward trend of fossil-fuelled power generation.
"This continued record growth shows how strong renewable energy is in the face of the ongoing energy crisis," said Francesco La Camera, the head of IRENA.
"The strong business case for renewables, combined with enabling policies, has sustained a year-on-year increase in their share of the global energy mix."But annual additions of renewable power capacity must grow three times the current level by 2030 if we want to stay on a pathway limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
While many countries increased their renewable capacity in 2022, the significant growth of renewables remains concentrated in a few countries and regions such as Asia, the United States, and Europe.
According to the report, IRENA’s data finds that almost half of all new capacity in 2022 was added in Asia, resulting in a total of 1.63 Terawatt (TW) of renewable capacity by 2022. China was the biggest contributor, adding 141 GW to the continent’s new capacity.
It added that renewables in Europe and North America grew by 57.3 GW and 29.1 GW, respectively. Africa continued to expand steadily with an increase of 2.7 GW, slightly above last year. Oceania continued its double-digit growth with an expansion of 5.2 GW, and South America continued an upward trend with a capacity expansion of 18.2 GW. The Middle East recorded its highest increase in renewables on record, with 3.2 GW of new capacity commissioned in 2022, an increase of 12.8 percent.
La Camera added, "As energy demand is expected to rise in many regions of the world, the energy transition requires a step-change that delivers a strategic shift beyond the decarbonization of the supply side. Any expansion of new non-renewables capacity in light of recent global events must be connected to efforts to accelerate the energy transition to make the system more resilient, inclusive, and climate-proof", stated the report.
Even though hydropower made up 1250 GW of the world's total renewable generation capacity, solar and wind continued to make up most of the new capacity.In 2022, both technologies contributed 90 percent of total new renewable capacity.Solar capacity increased by 22%, followed by wind energy, which increased its generating capacity by 9%.