Solar and wind power through energy crisis to chart record renewables growth

Defying a global energy crisis and supply chain issues, the global renewable generation capacity soared in 2022, growing by 295GW, or 9.6%, to reach 3,372GW.

New figures published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Tuesday from their Renewable Capacity Statistics 2023 report showed that renewable energy continues to grow at record levels despite a bevvy of global uncertainties.

Further confirming the downward trend of fossil fuelled power generation, the growth of renewable energy dominated all power capacity additions, accounting for 83% of all additions in 2022.

“This continued record growth shows the resilience of renewable energy amidst the lingering energy crisis,” said Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General.

“The strong business case of renewables coupled with enabling policies has sustained an upward trend of their share in the global energy mix year on year. 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.”

As continues to be the case, renewable energy capacity growth was led by a handful of countries and regions, including Asia, the United States, and Europe.

In fact, according to IRENA’s figures, almost half of all new renewable capacity added in 2022 was added in Asia, with China unsurprisingly leading the way with 141GW of new renewable capacity.

Renewable capacity in Europe and North America increased by 57.3GW and 28.1GW respectively.

Growth outside of these major regions is tellingly small. Africa saw an increase of only 2.7GW, while Oceania saw an expansion of 5.2GW. South America saw stronger growth of 18.2GW of new capacity, while the Middle East recorded its highest increase in renewable capacity, installing 3.2GW of new capacity.

“As energy demand is expected to rise in many regions of the world, the energy transition requires a step-change that delivers a strategic shift beyond the decarbonization of the supply side,” said La Camera.

“Any expansion of new non-renewables capacity in light of recent global events must be connected to efforts to accelerate the energy transition to make the system more resilient, inclusive and climate-proof.”

Hydropower continues to account for the largest share of global installed renewable energy capacity with 1,250GW, but solar and wind continue to dominate new generating capacity, together accounting for 90% of all new renewable capacity installed in 2022.

Specifically, global wind energy capacity saw an increase of 75GW, or 9%, in 2022, continuing the technology’s slowdown. New solar PV capacity installed in 2022 reached 191GW.