Global Overview
Data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows that in 2022, global renewable energy capacity reached an all-time high of 3382 gigawatts (GW). This is an increase of 292 GW from 2021, marking the most significant yearly growth on record.
The marked growth highlights the global pivot towards more sustainable energy resources. In 2022, renewable energy contributed to over 40% of the global electric capacity, up from 38% in 2021. IRENA reports that renewable sources accounted for 83% of all newly added power capacity globally in 2022.
Main Technologies
Renewable hydropower remains the predominant source of renewable energy capacity globally (1255 GW), but solar (1062 GW) and wind energy (899 GW) have gained traction over the past decade.
In 2000, renewable hydropower represented 93% of worldwide renewable capacity. By 2022, its share decreased to 37%, primarily due to the accelerated growth of solar and wind technologies. Since 2016, solar has been the fastest growing renewable technology in terms of annual capacity added.
Key Nations and Regions
In 2022 China had the largest renewable capacity installed at 1160 GW, significantly ahead of other countries. China also led in terms of new capacity added in 2022. Its addition of 141 GW constituted nearly half of the total global added capacity for that year, and it surpassed the United State’s additions by almost sixfold.
Despite China’s dominance in absolute renewable capacity, only 45% of its overall electric capacity are from renewable sources in 2022. 12 countries globally have above 90% of their electric capacity from renewable sources, including Paraguay, Bhutan and Lesotho.
Asia accounted for nearly half of the world’s total renewable capacity (1637 GW) in 2022, followed by Europe and North America. Asia’s share of global capacity has been increasing over the past two decades from 23% in 2000 to 48% in 2022.
When looking at the share of electrical capacity coming from renewables, South America is on top with over 70% followed by Europe and Oceania. Most regions have seen significant gains in their renewable shares over the past two decades.
Renewable Hydropower
Despite the strong growth of solar and wind, renewable hydropower remains the largest renewable technology by capacity. In 2022, the total installed capacity worldwide exceeded 1250 GW, accounting for 37% of the total renewable capacity. This is a decrease from its share of 96% in 2000 and 76% in 2010.
Over the past decade, the net addition of renewable hydropower capacity has slowed, dropping from a high of 45 GW in 2013 to 21 GW in 2022. As a result, it constituted just 7% of the total 292 GW of added renewable capacity worldwide in 2022.
Key Nations and Regions
As with wind and solar, China is the leading nation also when it comes to renewable hydropower, followed by Brazil, the United States, Canada and Russia. Data for net additions shows that in 2022, China added over 13 GW, more than half of the 21 GW total worldwide capacity added.
Given China’s dominance, Asia is the region with the largest renewable hydropower capacity, contributing 538 GW (43%) of global capacity in 2022.
Solar Energy
By the end of 2022, the world’s solar energy capacity reached 1062 GW. This places solar as the second-largest renewable energy source by capacity behind renewable hydropower. Solar energy now accounts for 31% of the world’s renewable energy capacity, compared to just 3% in 2010. In 2022, 189 GW of new solar energy capacity was added, making solar the main contributor to the renewable capacity expansion of 292 GW for that year.
Key Nations and Regions
China is by far the largest capacity provider, with over 393 GW of the total 1062 GW solar capacity worldwide, followed by the United States (113 GW) and Japan (83 GW). In 2022 alone, China added 86 GW, with the United States, India, Brazil and Germany contributing significantly to new global solar capacity.
In 2022, Asia made up just above 600 GW of the total 1062 GW (57%) of global capacity, making it the most dominant region in solar power.
Wind Energy
By the end of 2022, global wind energy capacity stood at 899 GW, making it the third-largest renewable energy source by capacity, behind renewable hydropower and solar energy. In total, wind energy constituted 27% of the world’s renewable energy capacity in 2022.
In 2022, the sector saw an addition of 73 GW, the third highest addition on record behind 2020 (111 GW) and 2021 (92 GW).
Onshore vs Offshore
The majority of wind energy capacity is located onshore. Offshore wind has, however, grown in importance over the past years, rising from 3% of total wind capacity in 2015 to 7% in 2022. Of the 73 GW wind capacity added globally in 2022, 65 GW came from onshore wind and 8 GW from offshore wind.
Key Nations and Regions
China has the largest wind capacity worldwide at 366 GW in 2022, accounting for 40% of global capacity. After China, the United States, Germany, India, Spain and the UK are the largest contributors to global capacity. For offshore wind, China still leads, followed by the UK and Germany.
In 2022, China accounted for almost half of the 73 GW expansion in wind energy, adding 37 GW to its total capacity, the majority of which was onshore.
Asia, led by China’s dominance, has emerged as the most significant contributor to global wind capacity over the past decade. As of 2022, Asia is larger than Europe both in terms of onshore and offshore capacity.
Bioenergy
In 2022 global bioenergy capacity reached 151 GW. Bioenergy has seen steady growth over the years, with an addition of 8 GW in 2022 compared to 2021. Bioenergy’s share of global renewable capacity has remained at around 4-5% in the past decade.
Key Nations and Regions
In 2022, China was the largest contributor to bioenergy capacity, followed by Brazil, the United States, India, and Germany. China also had the largest addition of bioenergy capacity in 2022 by a significant margin.
Regionally, Asia accounted for 43% of global capacity, a share that has increased significantly over the past two decades.
Geothermal Energy
In 2022, global geothermal capacity reached approximately 15 GW, an increase from about 8 GW in 2000. This accounted for roughly 0.5% of the world’s total renewable energy capacity in 2022.
Over the past few years, net added geothermal capacity has slowed, and in 2022 just 0.21 GW was added worldwide, the lowest since 2011.
Key Nations and Regions
The United States is the world’s leading nation in terms of geothermal energy capacity, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Türkiye, New Zealand, and Mexico.
In 2022, the majority of net additional capacity occurred in Kenya, Indonesia, and the United States.
Asia and North America are the two largest regions in terms of geothermal capacity, together accounting for more than half of worldwide capacity in 2022.
About the data
The data presented on this page is sourced from IRENA – International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA Renewable Energy Statistics database. Data is copyright © IRENA 2023.
Renewable power-generation capacity statistics are released by IRENA annually in March.
Regional Groupings
Data from IRENA on renewable capacity is based on the following regional groupings:
Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Central America and the Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
Eurasia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation, Türkiye.
Europe: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Middle East: Bahrain, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
North America: Canada, Mexico, United States.
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
South America: Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
Changelog
- First version of this page was released in June 2023, with IRENA data covering 2000 up until the end of 2022.
- Updated in August 2023 with revised IRENA data for 2022.