Wind and solar were the twin growth engines last year as renewables expanded to account for a third of the world’s entire capacity, according to new data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Wind and PV between them accounted for 84% of the 171GW of clean capacity added last year — an annual growth rate of 7.9% — as the world hit 2,351GW of renewables, says Irena’s Renewable Capacity Statistics 2019 report.
Solar capacity grew by 24% in 2018, with 94GW added — almost double the 49.1GW of wind, which itself managed a respectable 10% year-on-year increase.
Asia led the renewables charge in 2018, installing 61% of all new capacity (104.9GW), with Europe accounting for 13.8% (23.6GW) and North America 10.9% (18.7GW). China alone was responsible for 43.8% (75GW) of global installations last year.
China added 20.3GW of wind in 2018 — more than Europe (11.4GW) and North America (7.8GW) combined — taking 41.3% of all new capacity. Asia as a whole installed 24.1GW — 49.2% of the total.
However, Asia’s rapid clean energy expansion has been accompanied by 725GW of non-renewable – fossil and nuclear – capacity growth since 2010, according to Irena’s analysis. Asia and the Middle East are the only regions where non-renewables increased, and are “the main driving forces behind the persistent expansion in the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation” says the body.
Irena director-general Adnan Amin said: “Strong growth in 2018 continues the remarkable trend of the last five years, which reflects an ongoing shift towards renewable power as the driver of global energy transformation.
“Renewable energy deployment needs to grow even faster, however, to ensure that we can achieve the global climate objectives.”
