Worldwide almost exclusively renewable energies are newly built

Renewable energies are the only area in the global electricity industry that can boast significant growth rates. Other areas are hardly growing, are stagnating or are even being scaled back.

After Declarations According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the generation capacity for renewable sources at the end of 2022 was 3372 gigawatts worldwide. That is 295 gigawatts more than a year earlier, which corresponds to growth of 9.6 percent. The share of renewables in the total expansion of energy sources was now 83 percent.

In view of the global energy crisis, it can be seen as logical that this development should take place in this way, but it was not mandatory. Since energy production was once again being put to the test in numerous countries, interests that wanted to promote tried-and-tested processes such as coal-fired power generation could have prevailed. But that didn’t happen.

China far ahead

“This sustained record growth demonstrates the resilience of renewable energy amid the ongoing energy crisis. The compelling economic case for renewable energy, combined with favorable policy frameworks, has seen its share of the global energy mix increase year on year,” said Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA.

However, even the currently strong growth is not enough to get on an acceptable path. If the power sector is to meet its commitments agreed by the world’s countries in the Paris Agreement, the installation of renewable sources must increase to three times the current level. Because it is not just a matter of covering the increasing demand for electricity through the electrification of many areas of application, but also of replacing the climate-damaging systems.

More than half of the renewable expansion was concentrated in Asia. The clear number 1 here is China, where alone 141 gigawatts of capacity were added. Renewable energies in Europe and North America grew by 57.3 gigawatts and 29.1 gigawatts, respectively. However, the strongest growth rate compared to the previous stock is recorded in the Middle East. This is where the big oil states in particular are reacting to the global energy revolution and investing massively in hydrogen projects in order to be able to earn money with energy exports in the future.

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Energy, electricity, power supply, environment, environmental protection, green electricity, power grid, wind power, environmentally friendly, wind energy, wind, power generation, wind turbine, wind turbine, wind turbine