Growth in global electricity generation capacity from solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable technologies is on track to accelerate in the coming years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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Ninety-five per cent of the growth in global power generation capacity is expected to come from renewables by the end of 2026.

However, the report warns that renewables growth will need to double to reach the Paris Agreement target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Even the IEA’s “fast-track case,” in which governments address challenges related to regulation, policy and implementation, would not be enough.

The Paris-based organization expects a new record for new installations to be set in 2021, which would surpass the previous all-time high set last year. This comes despite rising costs for key materials used to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines.

According to the IEA, this partially positive trend is due to increased political support and, to some extent, more ambitious clean energy targets announced before and during the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, UK, last November.

“This year’s record 290 gigawatts of renewable electricity is yet another sign that a new global energy economy is emerging,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The report forecasts that by 2026, the planet’s renewable electricity capacity will increase by more than 60% over 2020 levels, to more than 4,800 GW, equivalent to the current global energy capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear power combined. The amount of renewable capacity added during the period from 2021 to 2026 is expected to be 50 % higher than from 2015 to 2020.

Of the expected nearly 95 % increase in global energy capacity through 2026, solar PV alone is expected to provide more than half. Solar PV is a way of directly converting sunlight into electricity.

Renewable energy growth is expected to increase in all regions compared to 2015-2020. According to the IEA, China will be the main driver of renewable capacity growth in the coming years, followed by Europe, the United States and India. These four markets account for 80% of renewable capacity expansion worldwide.

“The growth of renewables in India is exceptional, supports the government’s recently announced target of reaching 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and where it highlights India’s broader potential to accelerate its clean energy transition,” Birol said. “China continues to demonstrate its clean energy strengths, and the expansion of renewables suggests that the country could reach a peak in its CO2 emissions well before 2030,” he added.

The IEA report acknowledges that there are a number of factors that may slow the sector’s progress, as renewables face a number of policy uncertainties and implementation challenges. These include issues related to everything from permitting and financing to grid integration and social acceptance.

This sobering tone echoes earlier statements from the IEA. In October, it stated that progress on clean energy remained “too slow to put global emissions on a sustained decline toward net zero.”

As a sign of how much remains to be done, the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2021 stated that, despite all the progress made by renewables and electric mobility, 2021 is seeing a large spike in coal and oil use, which is contributing to the second-largest annual increase in CO2 emissions in history.