Renewables add 66 GW to global grid in 2022, but faster deployment needed: EIC Report

Renewables and clean energy projects added nearly 66 gigawatts to the global power grid in 2022, bringing the world closer to its environmental goals. But the pace of project deployment needs to move much faster to reach the 2050 net-zero target, according to the Energy Industries Council (EIC), the world’s leading energy trade association.
The EIC’s first global operational expenditure (OPEX) report, released this week, reveals that a total of 335 renewable and clean energy projects were commissioned in 2022. These included 128 onshore wind, 6 offshore wind, 159 solar, 10 energy from waste, 17 biomass, and 15 hydroelectricity projects.
Solar energy contributed the most to the global power grid compared to other forms of clean energy, adding 25.7 gigawatts.
The report, which covers a vast array of energy projects worldwide (excluding China and Russia), reveals that solar was followed closely by offshore and onshore wind projects, which produced 3.7 GW and 22 GW, respectively. The countries leading the way in clean power projects commissioned in the year were France, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States.
Fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix and remain the largest single contributor to the global power sector, with 65 power plant projects put into service in 2022, with a combined capacity of 46.6 GW. The sector, however, experienced a marked drop in new capacity compared to 2018 when it added well over 80 GW of electricity to the global grid.
Click here to read the report.