In 2023, renewable energy sources generated 30% of the world’s electricity. This milestone was achieved due to the continued expansion of wind and solar energy, which accounted for 13.4% of energy generated in 2023, up from 11.9% in 2022.
China led the way, creating 60% and 51% of new sources of wind and solar energy respectively. The EU, US, and Brazil also contributed significantly to the boost in wind and solar energy. However, the growth in wind energy declined for the second year in a row, and the combined energy rise from wind and solar was slightly lower than the previous year.
Interestingly, solar energy could have seen a higher increase if not for certain temporary factors. China experienced less sunlight in 2023, which limited the impact of its new solar panels. Additionally, some countries underreported their expansion of solar energy. If these factors hadn’t occurred, the actual increase for solar could have been around 387 TWh instead of 307.
Hydropower, on the other hand, fell to a five-year low, dropping its share of global energy to just 14.3%. This offset some of the gains made by wind and solar. Despite new dams being brought online in 2023, droughts continue to make hydroenergy collection much less efficient. Mexico was hit especially hard, seeing a 42% drop in its hydroelectric power.
Despite these challenges, wind, solar, hydro, other renewables, and nuclear together now makeup 39.4% of the world’s electricity supply. It might not be too much longer until most energy in the world is generated by low-carbon sources.
However, while renewable and other clean energy sources made substantial gains in 2023, it wasn’t quite enough to satisfy demand, which stood at an additional 627 TWh. The lower-than-expected growth in wind and solar, the decline in hydroelectric power, and the small gain in other sources like bioenergy meant a 135 TWh increase in fossil fuels was necessary to meet demand.
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