Renewables growth rate falls short of 2030 target, IRENA report shows
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A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Thursday revealed that the world may fail to triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030 due to insufficient current growth rates.
To achieve its goals, the world must now increase renewable energy capacity by at least 16.4% annually until 2030. In 2023, a significant 14% rise in renewables capacity marked a 10% average annual growth rate from 2017 to 2023.
With non-renewable capacity additions declining, renewable energy is poised to surpass fossil fuels in global installed power capacity.
However, if the 14% growth rate of last year persists, the goal of reaching 11.2 Terawatts (TW) by 2030 under IRENA’s 1.5°C Scenario will fall short by 1.5 TW, missing the target by 13.5%.
Also read: China’s coal generation hits record low in May as renewables reach new highs, analysis shows
Moreover, maintaining the historical annual growth rate of 10% would result in only 7.5 TW of renewables capacity by 2030, falling short of the target by nearly a third.
“Renewable energy has been increasingly outperforming fossil fuels, but it is not the time to be complacent,” said Francesco La Camera, director general of IRENA.
“If we continue with the current growth rate, we will only face failure in reaching the tripling renewables target agreed in the UAE Consensus at COP28,” he added.
In terms of power generation, the most recent data from 2022 reaffirmed significant regional differences in renewables adoption. Asia remains the global leader in renewable power generation, producing 3,749 Terawatt hours (TWh), followed closely by North America, which reached 1,493 TWh for the first time.
South America saw the most notable increase, with renewable power generation rising by almost 12% to 940 TWh, driven by hydropower recovery and increased solar energy contributions.
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