Amount of renewable energy capacity supplementing energy systems around the world in 2023 they increased by 50%.. This is the fastest expansion recorded in the last three decades and is expected to grow even faster in the next 5 years. Based on current data, we are on track to achieve the goal of tripling global electricity generation capacity from renewable sources by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
In 2023, renewable energy capacity added to power systems worldwide reached 510 gigawatts, a 50% increase over 2022. Photovoltaic accounts for three-quarters of the total added globally, and China is driving the transition. Last year alone, Beijing commissioned as much solar power as the world’s household in 2022, while wind power grew by 66%. This is revealed by data from the new IEA Renewables 2023 report, according to which renewable energy will be able to overtake coal and become there the main source of electricity productionglobally, to the beginning 2025.
Although we are on track to triple renewable capacity by 2030, as set out at Cop28, the United Nations climate conference held in Dubai between late November and early December 2023, the agency stressed that all governments must go further. and further increase the financing and spread of renewable energy sources in most emerging and developing economies that have been left behind in the new energy economy. “Success in achieving the COP28 goal will depend on it” said Fatih Birol, director of the IEA.
Apart from the Chinese peak in 2023 renewables also reached historic highs in the European Union, the United States and Brazil and photovoltaic and wind energy are expected on land will double from current levels by 2028 in all three countries, as well as in India. Also by 2028 on the old continent, the share of electricity produced from renewable sources will reach 61% of the total by 2023 with an additional energy capacity of 523 gigawatts, double the pace set in the previous six years.
However, growth is mainly driven by photovoltaics, while wind power has much more difficulty scaling up. Compared to forecasts formulated by the IEA, new renewable capacity will depend 70% on photovoltaics and only 26% on wind. The rest will come from a mix of hydroelectric power and other technologies, with hydrogen struggling, disappointing expectations for its rapid expansion.