The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released its Renewable Capacity Statistics 2025 detailing a significant increase in renewable power capacity during 2024, reaching 4.5TW. The 585 GW addition last year indicates a 92.5 per cent share of the total capacity expansion, and a record rate of annual growth (15.1 per cent).

However, the progress still falls short of the 11.2TW needed to align with the global goal to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. To reach this goal, renewable capacity must now expand by 16.6 per cent annually until 2030.

Most of the increase occurred in Asia, with the greatest share being contributed by China (nearly 64 per cent) while Central America and the Caribbean contributed the least at only 3.2 per cent. The G7 and G20 countries respectively accounted for 14.3 per cent and 90.3 per cent of new capacity in 2024.

IRENA director general, Francesco La Camera said: “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.”

Solar and wind energy continued to expand the most, jointly accounting for 96.6 per cent of all net renewable additions in 2024. Over three-quarters of the capacity expansion was in solar energy which increased by 32.2 per cent, reaching 1.9TW, followed by wind energy which grew by 11.1 per cent.

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