IRENA: 260GW of new renewable energy capacity was added globally in 2020

Annual renewable energy data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Monday: "In 2020, 260 GW of new renewable energy capacity was added globally, nearly 50%
more than in 2019.
”

According to the report, more than 80% of all new new electricity capacity added in 2020 was renewable, with solar and wind accounting for 91%
of new renewable energy.

This is the second consecutive year that the share of renewables in all new generation capacity has increased
significantly.

In 2020, the increase in fossil fuel power generation fell from 64 GW in the previous year to 60 GW in 2020, highlighting the continued decline in fossil
fuels.

Francesco La Camera, Managing Director of IRENA, said: "These figures tell an extraordinary story
of renewed growth and hope.
Despite the challenges and uncertainties of 2020, renewable energy remains an undeniable optimism
about a better, fairer, resilient, clean and just future.
”

Francesco added, "Although 2020 has been a difficult year, as we predicted, it marked the arrival
of the era of renewable energy.
Costs are falling, the market for clean energy technologies is growing, and the benefits of the energy transition have never been more apparent
.
”

IRENA data shows that global installed capacity increased by 10.
3%, which is a breakthrough growth
.
By the end of 2020, the cumulative global renewable energy capacity had reached 2,799 GW, of which hydropower still accounted for the largest share, about 1,211 GW
.

In 2020, hydropower returned to growth due to the delay in the commissioning of some large projects in 2019, as well as the addition of 12 GW of capacity in China and 2.
5 GW in Turkey
.

Wind expansion almost doubled in 2020 to 111 GW compared to 2019, compared to 58 GW
in 2019.
China added 72 GW of new capacity, followed by the US with 14 GW
.
In 2020, offshore wind power will reach about
5% of total wind power generation.

Solar: As Asia expanded its capacity in 2020 (78 GW), the total capacity of solar energy has now reached the same level
as wind capacity.
China accounted for the main share, reaching 49 GW, and Vietnam added 11 GW.

Both India and South Korea have expanded their solar capacity by more than
4 GW.

In terms of biomass, the increase reached 2.
5 GW in 2020, down significantly from 6.
4 GW in 2019
.
Among them, China added more than 2 GW and Europe added 1.
2 GW
.

In terms of geothermal energy, there will be almost no increase in installed capacity
by 2020.
Turkey added 99 MW of installed capacity, and New Zealand, the United States and Italy saw a small increase
.

In addition, global off-grid capacity increased by 365 MW in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 2%, and by the end of 2020, the cumulative global off-grid capacity reached 10.
6 GW
.
Among them, solar energy added 250 MW, reaching a cumulative 4.
3 GW, and hydropower remained almost unchanged, accumulating about 1.
8 GW
.