(ANSA) - ROME, APRIL 06 - Renewable energy sprint in 2020 worldwide, with an increase that exceeds the estimates and all previous records despite the economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic: in the world they have been added more than 260 gigawatts (Gw) of green energy capacity last year, surpassing expansion in 2019 by nearly 50%.
This was announced by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in the Annual Statistics on Renewable Capacity 2021 confirming that "the share of renewable energy of all the new generation capacity has increased significantly for the second consecutive year. Over 80% of all the new electrical capacity added last year was renewable, with solar and wind accounting for 91% of new renewable energies. "
The International Renewable Energy Agency (an intergovernmental organization that supports countries in the transition towards a sustainable energy future) explains that "the growing share of renewable energies out of the total is partly due to the dismantling of energy production from fossil fuels in Europe, North America and for the first time in all of Eurasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation and Turkey). Total fossil fuel additions fell to 60 Gw in 2020 from 64 Gw the previous year, showing a continuing trend to the downside of the expansion of fossil fuels ".
The director general of Irena, Francesco La Camera, notes that "despite the difficult period, as we had predicted, 2020 marks the beginning of the decade of renewable energy";
these numbers, he adds, "tell an extraordinary story of resilience and hope. Despite the challenges and uncertainty of 2020, renewable energies have emerged as a source of undeniable optimism for a better, more equitable, resilient, clean and just future", offering "the possibility of aligning our trajectory with the path towards inclusive prosperity".
The Chamber explains that "Costs are falling, clean technology markets are growing and never before have the benefits of the energy transition been so clear. This trend is unstoppable, but as the review of our World Energy Transition Outlook highlights, there is a lot to do. Our 1.5 degree outlook (of average global temperature rise from pre-industrial period, ed) shows that significant planned energy investments need to be redirected to support the transition if we are to reach the 2050 targets. . In this critical decade, the international community must look to this trend as a source of inspiration to go further, "he concludes.
At the end of 2020, explains Irena, global renewable generation capacity amounted to 2,799 Gw with hydroelectricity having the largest share (1,211 Gw), although solar and wind are recovering quickly: in 2020 they dominated the expansion of capacity with 127 Gw and 111 Gw respectively of new installations.
China and the United States drove growth in 2020: China, the world's largest market for green energy, added 136 Gw (72 Gw of wind and 49 Gw of solar) and the US installed 29 Gw (almost the 80% more than in 2019), including 15 Gw of solar and approximately 14 Gw of wind.
Africa continued to expand with an increase of 2.6 Gw, slightly higher than in 2019, while Oceania remained the fastest growing region (+ 18.4%), although its share of global capacity is small. and nearly all of the expansion took place in Australia.