In 2023, more than 85% of new electricity came from renewables, especially solar and wind. Out of a total of 553 new power plants built worldwide, 473 were to generate renewable energy, with solar making up 63% of the total capacity.
In total, 473 GW of renewable electricity generation capacity was added, up from 308 GW in the previous year, and nearly doubling the installed capacity of 2021.
Additional renewable capacity has been increasing steadily over the past two decades, but last year was hugely successful, driven largely by China: in 2023, it installed 217 GW of solar panels, almost as much solar power as the entire rest of the world the previous year, and the pace has continued this year. Global wind capacity has also surpassed the 1 TW threshold.
What the West could learn from China
Obviously, capacity does not equal generation, but in 2023, for the first time, carbon-free power generation technologies accounted for more than 43% of global electricity generation, if nuclear power (which is not renewable) is included, while truly clean renewables reached 30%.
Along with the increase in renewables, there has been a sharp slowdown in the construction of non-renewable power plants, as well as a trend towards decommissioning more and more fossil fuel facilities. In the United States, for example, coal and natural gas plants accounted for 98% of energy capacity retirements in 2023.
What is causing fossil fuel-fired power plants to close and more and more solar and wind ones to open? The power sector is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and will have to be fully decarbonized by 2035 in the leading economies, and by 2045 in the rest of the world to meet international emissions targets. But apart from these climate commitments, it is very simple: what is really causing this effect is the overwhelming logic that many of the coal, gas or nuclear plants already approved for construction in many countries around the world will end up not being built. The numbers simply do not add up.
Including fixed and variable costs, solar and wind are less than half those of coal and gas, and a third of nuclear. In short, installing energy production plants that are not responsible does not make any sense, beyond the unavailability of suitable sites for solar or wind production, or the more than possible ignorance or corruption of policy makers who make installation decisions.
In 2000, renewable energy was almost entirely hydroelectric, making up 19% of the world’s electricity generation. But in the decades that followed, solar and wind energy burst onto the scene with rapidly declining costs, and went from virtually zero to almost half of total clean energy. Meanwhile, hydropower growth has been stagnant for decades, and a global drought is now causing a five-year low in hydropower generation.
But if the world is serious about achieving its Dubai goal of tripling renewables, which would enable the world to reach 60% renewable electricity by 2030 and halve power sector emissions, it will be largely thanks to solar power. Countries like the United States are quickly opening up more and more federal land for solar installations. Solar has been the fastest growing source of electricity generation for 19 consecutive years, despite a global pandemic and ongoing trade wars.
I’ve been saying it for a long time: nothing makes more sense than harnessing energy sources that, once built, are powered by the sun and the wind, and require virtually no maintenance. Add to this the fact that batteries are also rapidly falling in price, while their performance improves, and a future powered by renewables and batteries is simply a matter of applying the most logical solution.
(En español, aquí)
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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