Abu Dhabi — The strong growth of renewable energies continued in 2018 when 171 GW of new capacities were put in place, an increase of 7.9%, indicated the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its 2019 Renewable Capacity Statistics report.

Solar and wind contributed up to 84% of these new installed capacities, which now bring to 2,351 GW the global installed renewable energy capacity, bringing the share of these energies in the global energy mix to 1/3.

In addition, half of the renewable capacities are made up of hydroelectricity with 1,172 GW of dams installed throughout the world.

As for growth in 2018, it varied by region. Oceania experienced the greatest growth with a 17.7% increase in its renewable installations. It is followed by Asia (11.4%) and Africa (8.4%) for growth.

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In terms of power, Asia leads the way, with 61% of renewable power plants installed in 2018.

The strong growth observed in 2018 confirms the trend of the last 5 years and reflects the transition towards the formation of the energy sector on a global scale, said IRENA Director Adnan Amin.

However, the same official made a point of recalling that this growth must accelerate in order to hope to achieve the objectives set in terms of the fight against climate change.