Renewable capacity rose by 171 GW in 2018, spurred by solar and wind

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), renewable installed capacity rose by 171 GW worldwide in 2018. 61% of the new renewable capacity was installed in Asia in 2018. Asia installed 105 GW of renewable capacity in 2018 (reaching 1,024 GW), mostly from additions in China (+75 GW), India (+13 GW) and Japan (+6.8 GW). Europe installed nearly 24 GW (+7.3 GW in Germany and +2.5 GW in France), reaching 536 GW. Nearly 19 GW were installed in North America (up to 366 GW in 2018), as more than 15 GW were installed in the US. More than 10 GW were added in Latin America (up to 226 GW), mostly from additions in Brazil (+7.4 GW). Renewable capacity additions reached 4.8 GW in Oceania (total capacity of 32 GW at the end of 2018), 4.1 GW in Eurasia (up to 100 GW), 3.6 GW in Africa (up to 46 GW) and 1.3 GW in the Middle East (up to 20 GW).

Most of the new capacity came from solar, with 94 GW in additions (24% increase in installed capacity), mainly in Asia (+64 GW), and more specifically in China, India, Japan and South Korea. The United States (US) installed 8.4 GW of solar capacity in 2018, Australia 3.8 GW and Germany 3.6 GW. Wind capacity increased by 49 GW (+9.5%), with developments concentrated in China (20 GW) and the US (6.7 GW). China also led hydropower capacity additions (8.5 GW out of 21 GW added) and bioenergy capacity additions (6 GW worldwide), with 2 GW installed in 2018, followed by the United Kingdom (900 MW) and India (700 MW).

Overall, the global renewable capacity reached 2,351 GW, with half of this capacity coming from hydropower (1,172 GW), followed by wind (564 GW), solar (480 GW), bioenergy (115 GW), geothermal (13 GW) and marine (500 MW).