IRENA

IRENA: 70% Global Renewable Deployment Led by Asia in 2023. Global renewable deployment over 2023 reached a total capacity of 3,870 GW—a new record in the power sector, according to the International

A group that represents utility companies worldwide said its members want to nearly triple their renewable energy generation capacity by 2030. The Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA), which was formed at last year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said the group collectively wants to increase its green energy […]

The spectrum of geothermal technologies is quickly evolving. This supplement to POWER’s April 2023 feature, “Startups Are Shaking Up Geothermal Power’s Potential,” briefly explains the differences between some engineered geothermal systems. Conventional geothermal energy is largely produced by hydrothermal systems, which consist of hot water circulated in deep-seated permeable rocks. Resource temperature ranges from high (greater […]

A new report issued this week by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says hydropower, which is already the largest source of renewable electricity in the world, must double in capacity if the world is to meet the climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement by 2050. The report says installed hydro capacity must reach […]

An estimated 91% of the world’s population had access to electricity in 2020, marking substantial progress toward goals to ensure universal access to power. Still, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 733 million people remain unserved. Off-grid and decentralized energy systems may be emerging as an alternative to facilitate energy access and resilience, […]

A company active in the hydropower sector is working on a new project to build a pumped-hydro storage facility at the site of a former coal mine in Kentucky. Boston, Massachusetts-based Rye Development, which has a current in-design or operational portfolio of 25 projects in 10 states, on Jan. 4 announced it was developing the […]

Shell Energy has started up a 10-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility—one of the largest of its kind in the world—to produce green hydrogen at its Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and it says plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100 MW.  The startup of the electrolyzer […]

CNL Successfully Fabricates Advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Fuel. Canadian nuclear science and technology organization Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) on April 13 announced it successfully fabricated

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 3 February 2021 – In recognition of their shared objectives to increase the uptake of renewable energy, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Hydropower Association (IHA) have today signed a formal partnership agreement. Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable energy, contributing over half of global […]

The passing of 2020 is a great relief to many. The new year allows us to review not just the tremendous loss of life from the pandemic, but to consider the state of the global energy system. Despite the virus, 2020 was a great year for climate commitments. While COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, […]

Decarbonization is posing a fundamental dilemma that could have widespread serious implications for the power sector: the clean energy transition, if not properly managed, could increase water stress, or be

While island governments are exploring marine power technologies as serious options for future resources to replace diesel, technology developers are looking at improved value through new revenue streams, such

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows costs for renewable power are increasingly cheaper than those for generation from coal, reinforcing the trend of increased investment in solar and wind power and away from fossil fuel-powered electricity production. The IRENA report—Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019—showed that more than half of […]

After several years of stagnancy, prospects for the geothermal power industry are heating up. Over the past year, it has seen a flurry of legislative boosts, an uptick of power purchase agreements, and

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) World Energy Outlook 2019, solar photovoltaic (PV) is set to become the largest source of installed electrical capacity in about 2035, if countries pursue policies as planned. By 2040, solar could make up 24% of global installed capacity—up from 7% in 2018—but its share of generation could hover […]

Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have been as transformative as the 2010s. The decade opened just as the global economy began to crawl toward recovery from a historically unprecedented downturn that […]

Between 2005 and 2016, the global installed capacity of solar PV increased more than seven-fold, and the capacity of onshore wind increased nearly three-fold, and owing to plunging costs, variable renewable energy (VRE) capacity is set to expand dramatically, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). To accommodate soaring shares of VRE generation, innovations […]

GE on Jan. 16 announced testing details of its giant 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine prototype. On the same day, Siemens Gamesa launched its first 10-MW offshore wind turbine model. The developments point to intensifying competition within the surging offshore wind turbine market.  GE’s 12-MW Offshore Wind Turbine Blusters Toward Commercialization GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X 12 […]

Nameplate renewable capacity surged to more than 2,000 GW worldwide at the end of 2016, constituting more than 28% of total generating capacity (Figure 6). Most (56%) was hydropower, followed by wind (23%), and then solar, mostly from photovoltaic (PV) at about 15%. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) the expansion was fueled […]

Global renewable energy generation capacity surged 161 GW in 2016, marking its strongest year ever for new capacity additions, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in a new report released at

The renewable energy sector employed 9.8 million people in 2016, up 1.1% percent from 2015, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA’s) “Renewable Energy and Jobs Annual Review 2017”, released May 24. “Renewable energy employment worldwide has continued to grow since IRENA’s first annual assessment in 2012, but the last two years have seen […]