Seven countries worldwide generate all their energy from renewable sources, according to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Last year was the best year ever for new wind energy installations. Euronews.Green reports this .
The top 7
More than 99.7 percent of electricity in Albania, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay and the Democratic Republic of Congo comes from geothermal, hydro, solar or wind energy.
Norway came close with 98.38 percent of its energy coming from wind, water or solar, according to data collected by Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson.
Worldwide
40 countries obtained at least half of their electricity from renewable energy sources in 2021 and 2022, including 11 in Europe. Some countries, such as Germany and Portugal, are able to run on 100% wind, water and sun for a short time.
The world will have installed 116 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity by 2023, according to the latest Global Wind Report from industry body Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). That is an increase of 50 percent compared to 2022, making it the best year ever.
The report notes that while wind energy growth is highly concentrated in a few major countries, some other regions and countries saw record growth. Africa and the Middle East will have installed almost 1 gigawatt of wind energy capacity by 2023, almost triple the previous year.
China led for both offshore and onshore wind installation, followed by the US, Brazil and Germany. Thanks to the strong growth in the Netherlands, Europe also had a record year in 2023 with 3.8 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity.
Target COP28
“It's great to see the wind industry's growth picking up and we're proud to have achieved a new annual record,” said Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC. “However, much more needs to be done to unlock growth.”
The authors say the world is "moving in the right direction in the fight against climate change" But it is not going fast enough. Annual growth will need to reach at least 320 gigawatts by 2030 to meet the COP28 pledge to triple renewable energy by then.
According to WindEurope, the EU will not achieve its 2030 target. To achieve the EU targets, countries must deploy more than 30 GW every year until 2030. In 2022, 16 GW came online and it is expected that countries will continue to fall short.
To truly unlock the potential of wind energy, countries across the EU, even those that are doing well, must tackle lengthy permitting processes, says WindEurope. This will only become more important as turbines reach the end of their life and need to be replaced with new ones - known as repowering.
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