Global renewables approach 30% share in 2023, on the back of solar, EU leadership

Renewables made up 30% of global power generation in 2023 for the first time, according to an analysis by clean energy think-tank Ember  – putting green power on track to displace coal.

Climate-friendly electricity will be the foundation of a net-zero world. By 2050, the IEA expects more than 50% of global energy consumption will be through electrons. Yet, in 2023, the global power sector’s emissions still amounted to 14 billion tonnes of CO2, due to 61% of generation coming from coal and gas.

Despite renewables comprising 80% of new power capacity additions for some years, power sector emissions increased by 1% compared to 2022 – due to low hydropower yields.

But change is in the air. “The renewables future has arrived,” said Ember’s director of insights, Dave Jones. “Solar in particular is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible.”

2023 may well have been the last time global power sector emissions increase. Without last year’s drought in China, global power emissions would have fallen.

Aside from the megatrend of a power sector inching towards climate neutrality, two things stand out: Europe and solar power.

The solar surge

Annual installations of solar panels have increased year-on-year for 19 consecutive years in a row, Ember reports. 

In 2023, 76% more solar panels were installed than in 2022, due to “steep declines in costs, supportive policy environments, technology efficiency improvements, and increased manufacturing capability,” the report finds

With the world looking to triple its renewable capacity by 2030, solar is expected to carry the day: going from 1.5 terawatts (TW) today, the figure is projected to grow to 6 TW capacity by the end of the decade.

Solar will then make up 55% of all renewables – outpacing wind, despite its ten-year head start, and hydropower, with a century-long head start. Already solar provides more than 10% of annual power generation in 33 countries.

Europe ahead

Despite – or perhaps because- of the ongoing energy crisis, Europe remains a global leader in renewables. In 2023, wind power overtook gas with a 17.5% share of the power mix – more than double the global average.

“The EU contributed 17% of the global growth in solar and wind in 2023,” the report explains, adding that Europe has significantly cut down on coal power, second only to the US.

Compared to China, the US, and India “the EU has the lowest share of fossil fuels in its electricity mix … at only 33%,” the report notes.

Clean power, combining nuclear at 23% followed by wind at 17.5%, hydro at 12%, and solar at 9%, make up the rest of Europe’s power supply.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Rajnish Singh]

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