IEA report: Global renewable capacity to double in 5 years

• 1 year, 10 months ago (2023-01-06)
• David Flin

Renewables 776 Solar 272 Wind 256

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a report indicating that it expects the global capacity of renewable power generation to almost double over the next five years as countries step up efforts to deal with the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It predicts that capacity will rise by 2400 GW through 2027 globally, and that renewables such as solar and wind are set to overtake coal to become the largest source of electricity generation by early 2025.

The report said that the unprecedented growth comes as governments are turning to renewables in the face of a dramatic increase in the price of fossil fuels resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a transition that will also help in limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. IEA said that the increase is expected to be 30 per cent higher than the amount of growth predicted a year ago.

Governments and businesses in Europe are rushing to replace Russian gas with alternatives, while China, India, and the USA are introducing regulatory and market reforms more quickly than previously planned to combat the energy crisis.

The report forecasts that the United States and India will see investments in solar equipment manufacturing rise by as much as $25 billion over the five-year period, while China’s share in solar equipment manufacturing capacity in the world may decline from its current 90 per cent to 75 per cent by 2027.