The growth of renewable electricity is accelerating faster than ever worldwide, supporting the emergence of the new global energy economy, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This is exemplified by the growth of the world’s capacity to generate electricity from solar panels, wind, turbines and other renewable technologies, on course to register massive growth over the coming years. This growth trajectory is keenly expected such that before this year ends, there would have been a fresh all-time record for new installations, the IEA said.

“Stronger policies and raised climate goals leading into COP26 are driving renewables to new records, but faster deployment across all key sectors is needed to reach net zero.”
IEA Report

Despite the fact that costs for key materials used to make solar panels and wind turbines are on the high side, additions of new renewable power capacity this year are forecast to rise to 290 gigawatts (GW) in 2021, according to the latest edition of the IEA’s annual Renewables Market Report.

The IEA forecasts that global renewable electricity capacity will rise more than 60 per cent from 2020 levels to over 4800 GW by 2026. This is equivalent to the current total global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined, IEA noted.

Renewables will account for almost 95 per cent of the increase in global power capacity through 2026, with solar Photovoltaic (PV) alone providing more than half. The amount of renewable capacity added over the period of 2021 to 2026 is expected to be 50 per cent higher than from 2015 to 2020.

According to IEA, this is driven by stronger support from government policies and more ambitious clean energy goals announced before and during the COP26 climate Change Conference.

IEA’s Executive Director, Dr Fatih Birol said: “This year’s record renewable electricity additions of 290 gigawatts are yet another sign that a new global energy economy is emerging. The high commodity and energy prices we are seeing today pose new challenges for the renewable industry, but elevated fossil fuel prices also make renewables even more competitive.”

Renewable Growth Accelerating in Four Markets

Based on IEA’s forecasts, the growth of renewables is forecast to increase in all regions compared with the 2015-2020 period. China remains the global leader in the volume of capacity additions: it is expected to reach 1200 GW of total wind and solar capacity in 2026- four years earlier than its current target of 2030.

India is expected to emerge top in terms of the rate of growth, doubling new installations compared with 2015-2020. In Europe and the United States, deployments are on track to speed up significantly from five years ago. These four markets together account for 80 per cent of renewable capacity expansion worldwide, IEA said.

“The growth of renewables in India is outstanding, supporting the government’s newly announced goal of reaching 500 GW of renewable power capacity by 2030 and highlighting India’s broader potential to accelerate its clean energy transition.

“China continues to demonstrate its clean energy strengths, with the expansion of renewables suggesting the country could well achieve a peak in its CO2 emissions well before 2030.”
Dr Fatih Birol, IEA

The IEA expects this record growth for renewables to take place despite rising commodity and transport prices. However, should the price surge continue through the end of next year, the cost of wind investments would assume 2015 levels, and the cost reductions for Solar PV would be reversed.

The report recommends that governments should further accelerate the growth of renewables by addressing key barriers, such as permitting and grid integration challenges, social acceptance issues, inconsistent policy approaches, and insufficient remuneration.