According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2020 saw a record amount of addition in new renewable energy capacity.
Last year, the new capacity was up by 50% year-on-year or 60 GW and amounted to 2,799 GW. However, it was still down compared to the previous year’s increase of 64 GW.
More than 80% of all new electricity capacity added in 2020 was renewable, mainly due to the decommissioning of fossil fuel power generation in Europe, North America, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey.
The world’s biggest renewables market China added 136 GW of renewables last year. The US installed 29 GW in 2020.
Now, the share of renewables in energy generation globally stands at almost 30%, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other sources.
IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera commented, “Costs are falling, clean-tech markets are growing, and never before have the benefits of the energy transition been so clear.”
