Renewables growth should speed up to meet tripling 2030 goal - IRENA

Global renewables capacity in 2023 increased at a record 14% rate compared to 2022 but this needs to accelerate if the world wants to achieve the COP28 tripling renewables target, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said on Thursday.

Renewables capacity should grow at least 16.4% annually through 2030 for the target of 11.2 TW to be achieved. Continuing the 14% growth rate will leave the world 1.5 GW short of the target. If the 10% compound annual growth rate observed from 2017 to 2023 is preserved, only 7.5 TW of renewables capacity will be reached by 2030.

IRENA’s Renewable Energy Statistics 2024 report estimates the total renewable generating capacity in 2023 at 3,865 GW, accounting for 43% of total global capacity. Solar accounted for 1,418 GW, hydropower for 1,265 GW and wind energy for 1,017 GW.

The report also shows that renewable energy sources represented 29.1% of electricity generation globally in 2022.

“Renewable energy has been increasingly outperforming fossil fuels, but it is not the time to be complacent. Renewables must grow at higher speed and scale,” IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera said.

He added that the global figures conceal ongoing patterns of concentration in geography, which risk exacerbating the decarbonisation divide and pose a significant barrier to achieving the tripling target.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!