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Renewable Capacity Statistics 2023, released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on March 20, 2023, shows that renewable energy continues to grow at record levels despite global uncertainties, confirming the downward trend of fossil fueled power generation.
By the end of 2022, global renewable generation capacity amounted to 3372 GW, growing the stock of renewable power by a record of 295 GW or by 9.6%. An impressive 83% of all power capacity added last year was produced by renewables. Expansion of renewable power generation in 2022 confirms upward trend of renewables against declining new fossil fuel capacity.
“This continued record growth shows the resilience of renewable energy amidst the lingering energy crisis”, IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said. “But annual additions of renewable power capacity must grow three times the current level by 2030, if we want to stay on a pathway limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”
While many countries increased their renewable capacity in 2022, the significant growth of renewables is persistently concentrated in a few countries and regions like Asia, the USA and Europe. IRENA’s data finds that almost half of all new capacity in 2022 was added in Asia, resulting in a total of 1.63 TW of renewable capacity by 2022. China was the biggest contributor, adding 141 GW to the continent’s new capacity.
Renewables in Europe and North America grew by 57.3 GW and 29.1 GW respectively. Africa continued to expand steadily with an increase of 2.7 GW, slightly above last year. Oceania continued its double-digit growth with an expansion of 5.2 GW and South America continued an upward trend, with a capacity expansion of 18.2 GW. The Middle East recorded its highest increase in renewables on record, with 3.2 GW of new capacity commissioned in 2022, an increase of 12.8%.
Although hydropower accounted for the largest share of the global total renewable generation capacity with 1250 GW, solar and wind continued to dominate new generating capacity. Together, both technologies contributed 90% to the share of all new renewable capacity in 2022. Solar capacity led with 22% increase, followed by wind energy, which increased its generating capacity by 9%.
Wind energy: With an increase of 75 GW in 2022, growth in wind power continued to slow compared to the previous two years. China accounted for almost half of this expansion (37 GW) and capacity in the United States increased by 7.8 GW. Most of the remaining capacity expansion occurred in Brazil and a handful of European countries. Offshore wind continued to account for about 7% of all capacity.
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