In its Annual Renewable Energy Outlook report, the IEA said the new capacity added in 2023 increased by 50% from the previous year to 510 gigawatts (GW). That takes the installed capacity to 3,700 GW.
Under the current policies and market conditions, the global renewables capacity is forecast to grow to a total of 7,300 gigawatt (GW) by 2028. To reach the 2030 goal agreed last year, it will require reaching at least 11,000 GW.
Countries in the world agreed to triple the renewable energy generation capacity by 2030 and move away from fossil fuels at the COP28 UN climate conference in Dubai last December. However, no mechanism was agreed to finance the shift to clean energy in developing countries, thefinancialexpress.com reported.
The report added that the biggest challenge to meeting the goal will be scaling up financing and deployment of renewables in most emerging and developing economies.
Despite many announcements of green hydrogen projects - where hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy to split water and heralded as a cleaner fuel for energy-intensive industry and transport - progress is slow, with only 7 per cent of current projects expected to come online by 2030, the IEA added.