Guest information from IRENA Press Release:
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Renewables Boom Highlights Growing Regional Divide
Over 70% of
renewable energy capacity growth occurred in Asia, while other regions
particularly Africa lagged behind, according to new IRENA data.
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Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates, 10 July 2025 - The Renewable Energy Statistics 2025
released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) today shows
that despite renewables capacity growing by over 15% in 2024, the growth
gap widens across regions.
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Asia has kept
its leading position since the past few years, accounting for 71% of new
renewables capacity in 2024, followed by Europe and North America
(respectively contributed 12.3% and 7.8% to the addition), leaving a huge
gap with Africa, Eurasia, Central America and the Caribbean which
together only accounted for 2.8% of total renewables capacity addition.
Despite its massive economic and development opportunities, Africa only
increased its renewables capacity by 7.2%.
Commenting on the data update, IRENA
Director-General Francesco La Camera said: “The renewable
energy boom is transforming global energy markets, driving economies and
creating vast investment opportunities. However, the growing regional
divide highlights that not everyone is benefiting equally from this
transition. Countries and regions that attract substantial investment in
renewables are seeing enhanced energy security, increased industrial
activity, and new jobs, fueling broader socioeconomic development.”
La Camera added: “Bridging the divide and closing the investment gap
between countries and regions is critical. It requires targeted policies,
international financing, and partnerships that unlock capital and
technology where they are needed most. By aligning investment flows with
policy frameworks, we can ensure that the green transition becomes a
powerful engine for resilience and sustainable economic growth
worldwide.”
“The global shift to renewables is increasingly inevitable, but its
massive human and economic benefits are not yet being shared across all
countries and regions,” said UN
Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. “To
deliver on the global agreement at COP28 to triple renewables by 2030, we
need to move much further and faster, and make more progress on the key
enablers for vulnerable developing countries. The investments required
will pay huge dividends – cutting emissions, driving economic growth,
creatin jobs, and supporting affordable, secure energy for all.”
As the custodian Agency for tracking the global goal to triple installed
renewable capacity by 2030, IRENA remains committed to reviewing progress
and identifying gaps towards the target on an annual basis. Although the
582 GW of renewable capacity added in 2024 represented a record annual
increase, it still falls short of the pace required to reach the global
tripling target of 11.2 TW by 2030.
If the same annual growth rate continues, the world will only reach 10.3
TW of renewables capacity, missing the target by 0.9 TW. Achieving the
target by 2030 would require renewable capacity to expand even faster at
16.6% annually in less than the remaining five years.
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The renewables
capacity trend also reveals the dominance of solar and wind power. Both
have jointly accounted for 97.5% of all net renewables additions in 2024,
with solar increasing by 453 GW. This proves the economic competitiveness
of solar energy; providing business opportunities and energy security
quickly and sustainably.
Wind energy is following behind with 114 GW of total renewables capacity
addition. With renewables now catching up with fossil fuels in the share
of installed capacity (46.2% of renewables vs 47.3% of fossil fuels), the
case of renewables being a smart investment that creates jobs and drives
sustainable growth has become stronger.
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The report also
shows the continuous growth of renewable power generation, driven by
solar and wind energy. Renewable electricity grew by 5.6% in 2023
compared to 2022, reaching 8 928 terawatts hour. Meanwhile, non-renewable
power grew by only 1.2% in 2023 compared to 2022. As such, renewable
energy sources accounted for almost 30% of global electricity generation
by 2023.
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About the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
IRENA is the lead
intergovernmental agency for the renewables-based energy transition in
pursuit of a systemic change across the energy sectors. A global energy
agency comprised of 169 countries and the EU, with
14 additional countries in accession, IRENA provides knowledge,
technical assistance and capacity building, project and investment
facilitation. The Agency enables international cooperation and
partnerships to fight climate change and promote sustainable development,
energy access, energy security and resilient economies and
societies.
Contact information:
Nicole
Bockstaller, Chief, Communications Officer, IRENA, nbockstaller@irena.org;
+971 2 417 9951
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