Yet despite this scale-up in market share — slightly higher than 2022’s 83 percent — countries may not be able to meet near-term goals, according to the report, released Wednesday by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Francesco La Camera, IRENA director-general, described the increase in a statement as an “extraordinary surge in renewable generation,” noting the sector’s ability “to rapidly scale up the energy transition.”
But he qualified his enthusiasm with a warning “that progress is not moving fast enough to add the required 7.2 TW of renewable power within the next seven years.”
Those 7.2 terawatts — or 7,200 gigawatts — of renewables were deemed critical in IRENA’s 2023 World Energy Transitions Outlook, which sought to pinpoint changes the power sector must undertake in order to meet established mid-century climate targets.
Countries added 473 gigawatts of renewables in 2023, bringing the planet’s total capacity in the sector up to 3,870 gigawatts, per the report. In 2022, countries added 295 gigawatts to the array.
The expansion in 2023 was led by Asia, which was responsible for 69 percent of the new installations — driven predominantly by China, according to the report.
The IRENA analysis identified “a glaring gap with other regions, leaving a vast majority of developing countries behind, despite massive economic and development needs.”
Although Africa has experienced some growth in the sector, the continent has reached a total capacity of only 62 gigawatts, the report found.
“Policy interventions and a global course-correction are urgently needed to effectively overcome structural barriers,” La Camera added.
