The IEA released its Renewable Energy 2023 report earlier this month, which provides a comprehensive look at renewable energy trends over the next few years and details how the sector will expand in 2023.

According to the report, under existing policy and market conditions, global renewable power generation capacity is expected to grow to 7,300 GW between 2023-2028, with solar PV and wind accounting for 95% of the new capacity, overtaking coal as the world's largest source of electricity by early 2025.

The IEA also pointed out that the world's new renewable power generation capacity increased by 50% in 2023, and the next five years will be the largest period of growth for the industry to date.

Despite the positive report, the IEA also said that "despite unprecedented growth over the past year, the world needs to do more to achieve the goal of tripling installed capacity by 2030, as agreed at COP28."

The renewable energy mentioned in the report covers large-scale and distributed solar photovoltaic systems, hydropower, onshore and offshore wind power, and other smaller energy sources such as hydrogen production, concentrated solar power, ocean energy, bioenergy, and geothermal energy.

IEA Executive Director Faith Birol said: "Onshore wind and solar PV are today cheaper than new fossil fuel power plants almost everywhere, and cheaper than existing fossil fuel power plants in most countries. Significant obstacles remain to be overcome, including a difficult global macroeconomic environment. For me, the overriding challenge for the international community is to rapidly scale up the financing and deployment of renewable energy in most emerging and developing countries, many of which are lagging behind in the new energy economy, on which the success of achieving the tripling target will depend."

A few highlights from the IT House accompanying report:

In 2023, global solar PV prices are down nearly 50% year-over-year, and the IEA expects cost reductions and accelerated deployment to continue.

Last year, China added as much solar PV capacity as the world will add in 2022, while the country's wind power capacity grew 66 per cent year on year.

Solar PV and onshore wind projects in the United States, the European Union, India and Brazil are expected to more than double by 2028 compared to the past five years.

Solar PV and wind power account for 95% of the projected addition of 7,300 GW of renewable energy between 2023 and 2028.