IRENA: Growth in renewables highlights regional imbalance

July 16, 2025, by Aida Čučuk

Despite renewable energy capacity growing by over 15% in 2024, the gap in deployment between regions continues to widen, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Illustration; Archive; Courtesy of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

The agency’s Renewable Energy Statistics 2025 revealed that Asia accounted for 71% of new renewables capacity in 2024, followed by Europe and North America (respectively contributing 12.3% and 7.8%), leaving a gap with Africa, Eurasia, Central America, and the Caribbean, which together only accounted for 2.8% of total renewables capacity addition.

Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s Director-General, stated: “The renewable energy boom is transforming global energy markets, driving economies and creating vast investment opportunities. However, the growing regional divide highlights that not everyone is benefiting equally from this transition. Countries and regions that attract substantial investment in renewables are seeing enhanced energy security, increased industrial activity, and new jobs, fueling broader socioeconomic development.”

“Bridging the divide and closing the investment gap between countries and regions is critical. It requires targeted policies, international financing, and partnerships that unlock capital and technology where they are needed most. By aligning investment flows with policy frameworks, we can ensure that the green transition becomes a powerful engine for resilience and sustainable economic growth worldwide.”

Simon Stiell, UN’s Climate Change Executive Secretary, commented: “The global shift to renewables is increasingly inevitable, but its massive human and economic benefits are not yet being shared across all countries and regions. To deliver on the global agreement at COP28 to triple renewables by 2030, we need to move much further and faster, and make more progress on the key enablers for vulnerable developing countries. The investments required will pay huge dividends – cutting emissions, driving economic growth, creating jobs, and supporting affordable, secure energy for all.”

Another key point raised by IRENA is that, although 582 GW of capacity was added in 2024 (reportedly the highest ever), it remains below what is needed to reach the tripling target of 11.2 TW by 2030.

“If the same annual growth rate continues, the world will only reach 10.3 TW of renewables capacity, missing the target by 0.9 TW. Achieving the target by 2030 would require renewable capacity to expand even faster at 16.6% annually in less than the remaining five years,” IRENA said.

As disclosed, the renewables capacity trend also revealed the dominance of solar and wind power. It is understood that both have jointly accounted for 97.5% of all net renewables additions in 2024, with solar increasing by 453 GW. Furthermore, the data showed the continuous growth of renewable power generation, driven by solar and wind energy.