There’s a lot being touted about the surge in renewables energy and storage innovation. Although much of the bluster is simply sales hype, the fact that renewables energy generation is experiencing phenomenal expansion is undeniable.
First up, here’s a collection of macro-economic statements from the International Energy Agency on renewables growth:
Between now and 2030, the world is on course to add more than 5,500 gigawatts of renewable power capacity – roughly equal the current power capacity of China, the European Union, India and the United States combined. By 2030, we expect renewables to be meeting half of global electricity demand.
With solar leading their rapid deployment, renewables are on course to meet almost half of global electricity demand by the end of this decade.
China is set to account for almost 60% of all renewable capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, based on current market trends and today’s policy settings by governments. That would make China home to almost half of the world’s total renewable power capacity by the end of this decade, up from a share of a third in 2010.
While China is adding the biggest volumes of renewables, India is growing at the fastest rate among major economies.
Solar PV alone is forecast to account for a massive 80% of the growth in global renewable capacity between now and 2030 – from dedicated new farms as well as rooftop corporate and household installations.
Wind generation will double between 2024 and 2030, compared with the period between 2017 and 2023.
Wind and solar PV are now the cheapest options to add new electricity generation in almost every country globally.
Global renewables capacity will reach 2.7 times its 2022 level by 2030, under the goal set by nearly 200 governments at the COP28 climate change conference in December 2023 to triple the world’s renewable capacity this decade.