Tripling Renewable Energy Capacity by 2030 Will Require $1.5 Trillion Per Year
The world’s progress to reach the goal of tripling renewables capacity by 2030 is falling short and needs another tripling, of investments, from $570 billion in 2023 to $1.5 trillion every year between 2024 and 2030, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in a new report on Friday.
Despite the significant acceleration of renewable capacity installations, the current pace of growth and progress is still falling short of targets, IRENA said.
According to the current plans and targets of individual countries, the goals set would only deliver half of the required growth in renewable power by 2030, the agency noted.
Countries are expected to submit their new updated plans, the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by February 2025. Some plan to unveil their updated targets as soon as next month, at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.
The trillion-dollar-plus annual investment would be needed to further accelerate renewables rollout, IRENA said in its report.
To meet the global goal of tripling renewables capacity by 2030, installed capacity would have to grow from 3.9 terawatt (TW) today to 11.2 TW by the end of the decade. This requires the installation of an additional 7.3 TW in less than six years, IRENA says.
However, current national plans are projected to leave a global collective gap of 3.8 TW by 2030, falling short of the goal by 34%, according to the agency.
“The next NDCs must mark a turning point and bring the world back on track,” IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) also warned that despite the surge in renewable energy additions, the world is not yet on track to reach the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Global renewable capacity is expected to grow by 2.7 times by 2030, surpassing countries’ current ambitions by nearly 25%. But it still falls short of tripling, the IEA said in its Renewables 2024 report this week.
