Global renewable energy capacity set to double over next five years: IEA

PARIS, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Global renewable energy capacity is expected to almost double in the next five years as the ongoing energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration of installations of renewable power projects, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday in "Renewables 2022," its annual report on the sector.

Global renewable power capacity is expected to grow by 2,400 gigawatts (GW) over the 2022-2027 period, which will allow it to overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by early 2025, the IEA said.

Renewables are set to account for over 90 percent of global electricity expansion over the next five years, and will help keep alive the possibility of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the agency said.

"Renewables were already expanding quickly, but the global energy crisis has kicked them into an extraordinary new phase of even faster growth as countries seek to capitalize on their energy security benefits. The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the previous 20 years," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

According to the report, the amount of renewable power capacity added in Europe in the 2022-2027 period is forecast to be twice as high as in the previous five-year period, driven by a combination of energy security concerns and climate ambitions.

The largest contribution to the growth of renewable energy capacity comes from China. The country is "expected to account for almost half of new global renewable power capacity additions over the 2022-2027 period," said the report.