Publication - RENEWABLE CAPACITY STATISTICS 2023
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this latest edition of Renewable capacity statistics reaffirms renewables as the de-facto energy choice for new power generation, despite the effects of recent global crises and geopolitical shocks on the energy sector.
By the end of 2022, renewables accounted for 40% of global installed power capacity. Yet, as we draw closer to a world in which renewable energy accounts for half of total capacity, many energy planning questions must be addressed to establish renewables as the most significant source of electricity generation - including in the context of grid flexibility and adaptation to variable renewable power.
2022 has seen the largest increase in renewable energy capacity to date – the world added almost 295
gigawatts (GW) of renewables, increasing the stock of renewable power by 9.6% and contributing an
unprecedented 83% of global power additions, largely due to the growth of solar and wind power, and
the further decommissioning of fossil fuel power plants in several large economies. Solar power alone
accounted for almost two-thirds of the renewable additions with a record 192 GW, while 75 GW of wind
the energy was added, slowing from the 111 GW added in 2020.
A record year for renewable capacity additions is encouraging for countries around the world
redesigning their national energy planning strategies to favor renewables. There is, however, much
more potential to increase the role of renewables; to stay on the pathway to limit global temperature
increases to 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels, the world needs to see more than 1 000 GW of annual
renewable capacity additions until 2050, with solar power representing more than half of this figure.
While this is an ambitious target - as the gap between what is needed and what is implemented widens
- the capacity progress reported here for 2022 reflects ongoing global efforts to transform the power
sector.
Looking ahead, we hope to see a much faster pace of growth in the stock of renewable power plants
and distributed electricity generation around the world.
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