IRENA Report Says Global Renewable Energy Growth Hits Record High but Misses Targets
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Global renewable energy capacity experienced a record increase in 2024, with an addition of 585 gigawatts and a year-on-year growth rate of 15.1%. This raised total renewable capacity to 4,448 GW.
Even with this major progress, the growth rate is still under the 16.6% annual growth needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of tripling renewable energy from 4 terawatts to 11.2 terawatts by 2030. IRENA’s Director General Francesco La Camera stressed the need to address regional disparities and to accelerate the pace of change stating, “We also face the same challenges of great regional disparities and the ticking clock, as the 2030 deadline is imminent.”
China was an important part of this growth by adding around 278 GW of solar capacity which is about 64% of the new capacity. In comparison the G7 countries accounted for 14.3% of the additions and Central America and the Caribbean added only 3.2%.
The main drivers of this growth were solar and wind energy which together constituted 96.6% of all net renewable additions in 2024. But greater and faster renewable technology deployment is needed to meet global climate goals.
According to the IRENA report, boosting international collaboration and ambition is necessary to address the gap to meet the target for 2030 in renewable energy.
