While the world moves increasingly closer to reaching its target to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, this may not be sufficient to meet global climate goals as energy demand is now rising faster than previously expected, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says.
“We are getting closer and closer to the (target of) 11.2TW by 2030,”
IRENA’s Director-General, Francesco La Camera, told CNA on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week.
However, the goal, set out during the 2023 COP climate summit in Dubai, was based on projections of global energy demand that turned out to be too conservative compared to reality.
In the past three years, global energy and electricity demand have jumped more than what was expected just three years ago, due to additional consumption for residential cooling and heating, and the AI boom, according to IRENA’s top official.
“The demand has been rising faster because of the change in lifestyle – more heating, more cooling,” La Camera, told CNA.
In a report earlier this month, IRENA said that while renewable energy deployment continues to break records, technology costs tumble, and electrification is advancing, “this progress remains too slow and uneven.”
Under IRENA’s revised 1.5°C Scenario, the share of electricity of global final energy consumption would rise from around 23% today to 35% by 2035 and more than 50% by 2050, supported by around 18.4 terawatts (TW) of renewable power capacity by 2035 and 38.2 TW by 2050, the agency said in its World Energy Transition Outlook 2026: 1.5°C Pathway.
IRENA warned in September that despite record growth in renewable energy capacity additions in 2025, the world must build more renewable power capacity in 2026-2030 than in all previous years combined.
“Renewables can still close the gap towards 2030, but energy efficiency is falling behind, electricity demand is rising faster than expected, and the grid infrastructure has failed to keep pace with renewables deployment,” La Camera said, commenting on the official tracking report by IRENA, the COP31 Presidency Türkiye, and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA).
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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