A total of 171GW of new renewable energy capacity came online in 2018 with the sector now accounting for one-third of total power installations, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
IRENA’s ‘Renewable Capacity Statistics 2019’ report said that total clean energy capacity reached 2351GW by the end of last year.
Hydro has the largest share with 1172GW, wind is 564GW and solar 480GW, the report said.
There is about 121GW of bioenergy, 13GW of geothermal and 500MW of wave and tidal.
About 61% of new clean power additions in 2018 came in Asia, IRENA said.
Wind energy increased by 49GW, solar by 94GW up 24%, while hydro accounted for over 8.5GW.
China and the US accounted for the most new wind capacity, with 20GW and 7GW, respectively.
Other countries expanding wind by more than 1GW were Brazil, France Germany India and the UK, IRENA said.
IRENA director-general Adnan Amin said: “Through its compelling business case, renewable energy has established itself as the technology of choice for new power generation capacity.
“The strong growth in 2018 continues the remarkable trend of the last five years, which reflects an ongoing shift towards renewable power as the driver of global energy transformation.
“Renewable energy deployment needs to grow even faster, however, to ensure that we can achieve the global climate objectives and sustainable development goals.
“Countries taking full advantage of their renewables potential will benefit from a host of socioeconomic benefits in addition to decarbonising their economies.”