Renewable energies grew 50% in 2023, says AIE – 01/11/2024 – Environment

The installed capacity of renewable energy in the world increased by 50% in 2023 compared to the previous year. The information comes from the IEA (International Energy Agency), which anticipates unprecedented growth in the next five years, but insufficient to contain climate change.

Last year, around 507 gigawatts (GW) were implemented, according to the Renováveis ​​2023 report, published this Thursday (11) by the organization. Three-quarters of these new installations were in the solar photovoltaic sector.

China was once again the main driver of this growth, with, for example, a 66% increase in wind energy in one year. But Europe, the United States and Brazil also advanced and reached unprecedented levels.

For the next five years, the IEA predicts the sector’s “biggest growth” in three decades.

“Renewable electricity production capacity has never grown so quickly in 30 years, which provides a real possibility of achieving the objective that governments set for COP28 of tripling global capacity by 2030,” adds the agency in a statement, if referring to the agreement made by more than 100 countries at the last UN climate conference.

However, for this commitment to be fulfilled the pace needs to accelerate, which depends on financing for emerging and developing countries.

“Under current market conditions and the state of policy, global capacity would increase 2.5 times by 2030. It is still not enough to achieve the COP28 objective of multiplying renewables by three, but we are getting closer and governments have the necessary tools to minimize the difference”, insists the director of the AIE, Fatih Birol.

“Onshore wind and photovoltaic installations are currently cheaper than new fossil fuel plants almost everywhere, and cheaper than existing plants in most countries,” says the economist.

The goal of tripling renewable energy is global, but each country has different needs.

In the richest nations and in the main emerging countries, the IEA highlights that the objective is to end hesitation in national policies, invest in the modernization and adaptation of networks and reduce deadlines and administrative complications.

For other countries, the priority is access to finance and the implementation of solid regulatory frameworks, the report adds. Renewable installation targets must also be defined, which some countries do not yet have.

According to Dave Jones, from the think tank Ember, the level reached in 2023 shows that tripling renewable energy “is completely viable”.

But for WWF’s Dean Cooper, renewable energy production is not growing fast enough. “[Após a COP28,] Those who want a habitable planet must increase pressure on their governments to move from words to action and urgently transform energy systems,” he says.