Global Renewables Surpass 30% of Electricity Generation, Driven by Solar Growth and Major Contributions from China.

Solar PV and wind generation growth exceeded 82% of last year’s global electricity demand growth, a first according to Ember. The growth pushed global renewables electricity generation past 30% in 2023, driven by China contributing to over half of the additional global solar generation. China, the EU, the US and Brazil accounted for 81% of this growth. Solar is expected to further increase its generation in 2024 as added capacity increases. This would bring renewables production capacity to 60% by the end of the decade. Despite this, there has been underperformance in solar PV generation due to the excess supply and the rapid drop in battery storage costs. The report also highlighted the need to address curtailment in certain markets, particularly in Japan, the Netherlands and Australia. It predicts that in 2024, clean energy generation will add over 1,300TWh, far higher than the demand growth predicted.