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75% of global new electricity generation capacity built in 2019 uses renewable energy



New data from theInternational Renewable Energy Agency(Irena) shows solar, wind and other green technologies now provide more than one-third of the world’s power, marking another record.

At the end of 2019, global renewable generation capacity amounted to 2 537 GW. Hydropower accounted for the largest share of the global total, with a capacity of 1 190 GW.* Wind and solar energy accounted for most of the remainder, with capacities of 623 GW and 586 GW respectively. Other renewables included 124 GW of bioenergy and 14 GW of geothermal, plus 500 MW of marine energy


Renewable generation capacity increased by 176 GW (+7.4%) in 2019. Solar energy continued to lead capacity expansion, with an increase of 98 GW (+20%), followed by wind energy with 59 GW (+10%). Hydropower capacity increased by 12 GW (+1%) and bioenergy by 6 GW (+5%). Geothermal energy increased by just under 700 MW. Solar and wind energy continued to dominate renewable capacity expansion, jointly accounting for 90% of all net renewable additions in 2019. However, this unusually high share may reflect the very low expansion of hydropower last year https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2020/Mar/IRENA_RE_Capacity_Highlights_2020.pdf?la=en&hash=B6BDF8C3306D271327729B9F9C9AF5F1274FE30B

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