RIYADH: Global renewable energy capacity saw a record annual growth rate of 15.1 percent in 2024, increasing by 585 gigawatts, according to a new analysis.
In its latest report, the International Renewable Energy Agency said that this addition brought the total installed power capacity in the sector to 4,448 GW.
Despite this record increase, IRENA highlighted that growth is still falling short of the 11.2 terawatts needed to align with the global goal to triple the installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The study further said global renewable capacity should expand by 16.6 percent annually to meet the stipulated 2030 target.
Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency said that renewable energy sources accounted for most of the growth in international supply in 2024 at 38 percent, followed by natural gas at 28 percent, and coal at 15 percent, as well as oil at 11 percent and nuclear power at 8 percent.
IEA’s estimate of renewable energy installations was also higher than the projections made by IRENA. IEA said that new renewable installations hit record levels for the 22nd consecutive year, with around 700 GW added to the total capacity in 2024, of which around 80 percent was from solar photovoltaic.
Reflecting on the new analysis, IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera said: “With just six years remaining to meet the goal adopted at COP28 to triple installed renewable power capacity by 2030, the world now needs additions in excess of 1,120 GW each year for the rest of this decade to keep the world on a 1.5-degree Celsius pathway.”
La Camera also urged governments to leverage the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions as an opportunity to outline a clear blueprint of their renewable energy ambitions.
He further called on the international community to enhance collaborations to support the renewable ambitions of the countries of the Global South.
“The continuous growth of renewables we witness each year is evidence that renewables are economically viable and readily deployable. Each year, they keep breaking their own expansion records, but we also face the same challenges of great regional disparities and the ticking clock as the 2030 deadline is imminent,” said the director-general.
He added: “With economic competitiveness and energy security being increasingly a major global concern today, expanding renewable power capacity at speed equals tapping into business opportunities and addressing energy security quickly and sustainably.”
According to IRENA, solar and wind energy saw the most significant expansion in 2024, accounting for 96.6 percent of all net renewable additions.
Over three-quarters of the capacity expansion was in solar energy, which increased by 32.2 percent, reaching 1,865 GW, followed by wind energy, growing by 11.1 percent.
In 2024, China added 278 GW of solar energy capacity, followed by India at 24.5 GW.
Commenting on the IRENA report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Renewable energy is powering down the fossil fuel age. Record-breaking growth is creating jobs, lowering energy bills and cleaning our air.”
He added: “Renewables renew economies. But the shift to clean energy must be faster and fairer — with all countries given the chance to fully benefit from cheap, clean, renewable power.”
According to IRENA, hydropower capacity reached 1,283 GW in 2024, demonstrating a notable rebound from 2023, driven by growth in China.
The world saw wind energy capacity reaching 1,133 GW by the end of last year, driven by expansion in the US and China.
Bioenergy expansion rebounded in 2024, with a growth of 4.6 GW of capacity compared to an increase of 3 GW in 2023. This rise was propelled by China and France, which added 1.3 GW each last year.
Geothermal energy increased by 0.4 GW overall, led by New Zealand, followed by Indonesia, Turkiye, and the US.
Off-grid electricity capacity expansion, excluding Eurasia, Europe, and North America, nearly tripled, growing by 1.7 GW to 14.3 GW.
La Camera added that renewables accounted for 46 percent of global installed power capacity.
“Even as renewable energy almost accounts for half of total capacity, many energy planning questions still need to be addressed to establish renewables as the most significant source of electricity generation — including in the context of grid flexibility and adaptation to variable renewable power,” he said.
During the opening ceremony of the annual UN climate summit in November, Mukhtar Babayev, president of COP29, underscored the vitality of increased funding to enable climate efforts and urged governments, the private sector, and multilateral financial institutions to work together to meet the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.
That treaty, signed in 2015, compels signatories to work toward limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
