Global renewable energy generation capacity rose by a record 161GW to an estimated 2,006GW in 2016, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) says in its Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics 2017.
“This growth in deployment emphasizes the increasingly strong business case for renewables which also have multiple socio-economic benefits in terms of fuelling economic growth, creating jobs and improving human welfare and the environment,” says Irena director general Adnan Amin.
Last year’s additions grew global renewables capacity by 8.7%, led by solar power, which contributed with 71GW to that growth. Solar for the first time since 2013 outpaced wind power, which increased by 51GW last year.
Another 30GW in new capacity came from hydro, and 9GW from bioenergy.
Asia accounted for the bulk of new renewables capacity in 2016, or 58%. The continent now has 812GW in cumulative RE capacity, or 41% of the world’s total.
Africa with 4.1GW installed twice as much renewables capacity than in 2015.
This year’s edition of the Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics contains for the first time data specifically for off-grid renewables. Irena shows that off-grid renewable electricity capacity reached 2.8GW the end of 2016.
Highlights by technology:
Wind energy: Almost three-quarters of new wind energy capacity was installed last year in just four countries: China (+19GW); USA (+9GW); Germany (+5GW); and India (+4GW). Brazil continued to show strong growth, with an increase of 2GW in 2016.
Solar energy : Asia saw the most growth in solar capacity last year, with capacity of 139GW (+50GW). Almost half of all new solar capacity was installed in China in 2016 (+34GW). Other countries with significant expansion included: USA (+11GW); Japan (+8GW) and India (+4GW). Capacity in Europe expanded by 5GW to reach 104GW, with most expansion occurring in Germany and the UK.
Bioenergy: The majority of bioenergy capacity expansion occurred in Asia last year (+5.9GW) and Asia is fast approaching Europe in terms of its share of global bioenergy capacity (32% compared to 34% in Europe). Europe (+1.3GW) and South America (+0.9GW) were the other two regions where bioenergy capacity expanded significantly.
Hydropower:In 2016, about half of new hydro capacity was installed in Brazil and China (14.6GW in total). Other countries with major hydro expansion (over 1GW) included: Canada; Ecuador; Ethiopia and India.
Geothermal energy:Geothermal power capacity increased by 780MW in 2016, with expansions in Kenya (+485MW), Turkey (+150MW), Indonesia (+95MW) and Italy (+55MW).
