A report released from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi on Monday found global growth in renewable energy beat all prior records in 2021, despite the economic turmoil of covid-19. According to IRENA’s latest report, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2021, released Monday, more than 260 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity was added worldwide in 2020, an increase of 50 percent over the previous year and a second straight year of significant capacity gains.
Per IRENA, more than 80 per cent of all new electricity capacity added in 2020 came from renewable sources, the vast majority (91 percent) being solar and wind. IRENA measures renewable power generation capacity as the maximum net generating capacity of power plants and other installations that use renewable energy sources to produce electricity.
According to the agency’s report, renewable energy‘s rising share of total capacity is partly due to net decommissioning of fossil fuel power generation in Europe, North America and for the first time across Eurasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation and Turkey). Total fossil fuel additions fell to 60 GW in 2020 from the previous year’s 64 GW, highlighting a continued downward trend of fossil fuel expansion.
“The Great Reset”
“These numbers tell a remarkable story of resilience and hope. Despite the challenges and the uncertainty of 2020, renewable energy emerged as a source of undeniable optimism for a better, more equitable, resilient, clean and just future,” said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. “The great reset offered a moment of reflection and chance to align our trajectory with the path to inclusive prosperity, and there are signs we are grasping it.
“Despite the difficult period, as we predicted, 2020 marks the start of the decade of renewables,” La Camera said. “Costs are falling, clean tech markets are growing and never before have the benefits of the energy transition been so clear. This trend is unstoppable, but…there is a huge amount to be done. Our 1.5 degree outlook shows significant planned energy investments must be redirected to support the transition if we are to achieve 2050 goals. In this critical decade of action, the international community must look to this trend as a source of inspiration to go further.”
According to the agency’s report, the 10.3 per cent rise in installed capacity represents expansion that beats long-term trends of more modest growth year on year. At the end of 2020, global renewable generation capacity amounted to 2,799 GW with hydropower still accounting for the largest share (1,211 GW).
Solar and wind are catching up fast, however. Wind expansion almost doubled in 2020 compared to 2019 (111 GW compared to 58 GW last year), with China adding 72 GW of new capacity, followed by the United States (14 GW). Total solar capacity has now reached about the same level as wind capacity thanks largely to expansion in Asia (78 GW) in 2020. Major capacity increases in China (49 GW) and Viet Nam (11 GW). Japan also added over 5 GW and India and Republic of Korea both expanded solar capacity by more than 4 GW. The United States added 15 GW.
Ten other countries increased wind capacity by more than 1 GW in 2020. Offshore wind increased to reach around 5 percent of total wind capacity in 2020. The two variable sources of renewables dominated capacity expansion in 2020 with 127 GW and 111 GW of new installations for solar and wind, respectively.
China and the United States were the two leading growth markets in 2020. China, which is already the world’s largest market for renewables. added 136 GW last year with the bulk coming from 72 GW of wind and 49 GW of solar. The U.S. installed 29 GW of renewables last year, nearly 80 per cent more than in 2019, including 15 GW of solar and around 14 GW of wind. Africa continued to expand steadily with an increase of 2.6 GW, slightly more than in 2019, while Oceania remained the fastest growing region (an increase of 18.4 percent), although its share of global capacity is small and almost all of last year’s expansion occurred just in Australia.
