The Daily Populous Thursday March 27th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cleantechnica.com and submitted by rmuktader

How much is renewable energy dominating new power capacity worldwide? That’s how much! 92.5% of new power capacity added to the grid in 2024 came from renewable energy sources. This is not even a competition anymore. And that’s great, because we’re still running behind schedule when it comes to decarbonizing the world.

Overall, 585 gigawatts (GW) of new power capacity was added from renewables, leading to 4,448 GW of total power capacity. Those 585 GW also represent 15.1% annual growth, which the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) indicates was record growth.

Solar and wind power, as usual accounted for almost all of the growth. They accounted for 96.6% of net renewable energy growth. Solar power alone accounted for 77.3% of the renewable industry’s growth (452 GW), as it increased 32.2% year over year. It rose to 1,865 GW of total installed capacity. Wind power installations grew by 11.1% year over year (113 GW), accounting for 19.3% of the world’s new renewable power capacity.

Now, to the bad news. The downside is that the world needs to reach 11,200 GW (11.2 TW) of power capacity from renewables by 2030 in order to meet global climate goals, and to reach that will require 16.6% annual growth.

This and much more data is presented in the new Renewable Capacity Statistics 2025 report from IRENA.

Here’s a breakdown of growth from different renewable energy technologies in 2024 from IRENA:

Solar: solar photovoltaics increased by 451.9 GW last year. China alone added 278 GW to the total expansion, followed by India (24.5 GW).

solar photovoltaics increased by 451.9 GW last year. China alone added 278 GW to the total expansion, followed by India (24.5 GW). Hydropower (excluding pumped storage hydropower): capacity reached 1,283 GW, demonstrating a notable rebound from 2023, driven by China. Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal Pakistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam added more than 0.5 GW each.

(excluding pumped storage hydropower): capacity reached 1,283 GW, demonstrating a notable rebound from 2023, driven by China. Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal Pakistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam added more than 0.5 GW each. Wind: wind energy expansion declined slightly, to a total of 1,133 GW capacity by the end of 2024. Expansion was once again dominated by China and the United States (US).

wind energy expansion declined slightly, to a total of 1,133 GW capacity by the end of 2024. Expansion was once again dominated by China and the United States (US). Bioenergy: expansion rebounded in 2024, with an increase of 4.6 GW of capacity compared to an increase of 3.0 GW in 2023. The growth was driven by China and France with 1.3 GW of additions each.

expansion rebounded in 2024, with an increase of 4.6 GW of capacity compared to an increase of 3.0 GW in 2023. The growth was driven by China and France with 1.3 GW of additions each. Geothermal: geothermal energy increased by 0.4 GW overall, led by New Zealand, followed by Indonesia, Türkiye, and the US.

geothermal energy increased by 0.4 GW overall, led by New Zealand, followed by Indonesia, Türkiye, and the US. Off-grid electricity (excluding Eurasia, Europe and North America): capacity expansion nearly tripled, growing by 1.7 GW to reach 14.3 GW. Growth was dominated by off-grid solar energy which reached 6.3 GW by 2024.

New renewable energy capacity was dominated by China, with the country accounting for almost 64% of global capacity additions. (What would the industry do without China?) Together, G7 countries accounted for 14.3% of new capacity, while G20 countries accounted for 90.3% of new capacity (of course, 64% coming from China, as already mentioned).

“The continuous growth of renewables we witness each year is evidence that renewables are economically viable and readily deployable. Each year they keep breaking their own expansion records, but we also face the same challenges of great regional disparities and the ticking clock as the 2030 deadline is imminent,” IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera concluded.

“Renewable energy is powering down the fossil fuel age. Record-breaking growth is creating jobs, lowering energy bills and cleaning our air. Renewables renew economies. But the shift to clean energy must be faster and fairer — with all countries given the chance to fully benefit from cheap, clean renewable power,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres added.

To wrap up, note in the chart at the top that non-renewable power capacity additions were at their lowest level this century. Progress is being made.

Farley2k on March 27th, 2025 at 16:25 UTC »

Cool

Belus86 on March 27th, 2025 at 16:25 UTC »

I'd be curious if there will ever be regulation around Bitcoin to only be mined with renewable energy. Might actually increase it's value...

YsoL8 on March 27th, 2025 at 15:57 UTC »

Tell me that peak emissions isn't coming very soon