Tag: IRENA

Climate Variability Emerges as Both Risk and Opportunity for the Global Energy Transition

Stuart Mitchell

Climate variability and long-term climate change are increasingly shaping the performance and reliability of renewable energy systems worldwide, according to the WMO–IRENA 2024 Year in Review: Climate-driven Global Renewable Energy Resources and Energy Demand, released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The report, in its third edition, finds that 2024—the warmest year on record, with global temperatures reaching around 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels—brought pronounced regional shifts in solar, wind and hydropower potential, alongside a 4% increase in climate-driven global energy demand compared with…

Read More

World Breaks Renewable Records but Must Move Faster to Hit 2030 Tripling Goal

Stuart Mitchell

The world is falling behind on its renewable energy and efficiency goals despite record progress last year, confirms a new report released today by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the COP30 Brazilian Presidency, and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) during a pre-COP30 high-level event in Brasília. In 2024, global renewable capacity additions reached an unprecedented 582 GW. Yet this is still not enough to stay on track for the COP28 UAE Consensus target of tripling renewables to 11.2 TW by 2030. Meeting that goal now demands a staggering 1…

Read More

Leading Power Sector Companies Reveal Blueprint for Infrastructure Upgrade

Stuart Mitchell

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) forecasts 91% of global electricity to come from renewables by 2050, primarily from solar photovoltaics and wind energy, making large-scale renewables projects and the connection of large consumer loads a priority for the energy transition. Despite the record addition of around 582 GW of new renewable power capacity in 2024, achieving the global target of 11.2 terawatts of renewables capacity by 2030 still requires addressing major gaps. Currently, lagging infrastructure development and inefficiencies in power grids represent some of the barriers to meet electricity…

Read More

Sustainable Aviation Fuels Projects to Gain New Support Through IRENA–ICAO Collaboration

Stuart Mitchell

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) launched ‘Finvest@ETAF’ to support Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and clean aviation energy projects globally. The portal, which is hosted on IRENA’s Energy Transition Accelerator Finanacing (ETAF) platform, was unveiled ahead of the 42nd ICAO Assembly, which kicks off in Montréal today. While demand reduction and energy efficiency improvements will play a critical role to align the sector with IRENA’s 1.5 °C scenario, SAFs could account for 40–65% of the sector’s emission cuts by 2050, according to ICAO.…

Read More

IRENA’s New Podcast Series “All Things Renewable” Goes Live

Stuart Mitchell

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) officially launched its new podcast series “All Things Renewable” today. Through interviews with IRENA energy experts, the podcast explains the work of the Agency and provides insights on the latest trends in the global shift towards a sustainable energy future. Each episode focuses on key knowledge topics of IRENA – from renewable energy financing, costs, policies and technological innovations to the socio-economic impacts of the energy transition. Ten episodes are readily available on irena.org/podcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts and soon on Apple Podcasts, with the…

Read More