China leads in renewable energy capacity at 895 GW

The world’s total installed renewable energy amounted to almost 2,800 GW in 2020. According to data presented by TradingPlatforms.com, China has an installed renewable energy capacity of 895 gigawatts. The next on the list is the US with a distant 292 GW. The next five countries on the list after China had a combined capacity that is less than China’s.

The US, Brazil, India, Germany, and Canada had a combined capacity of 809 GW in 2020. Japan was the only other country to have a capacity greater than 100 GW, while Italy and France both had capacities of 55 GW in 2020 to close out the top 10.

Total renewable energy capacity increased by 10 percent y/y in 2020 from 2,538 GW to 2799 GW. During 2015-2020 the total installed renewable energy capacity grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.67 percent. Several various types of renewable energy also experienced varying levels of growth.

In 2020 hydro-energy, bioenergy, and geothermal energy experienced modest growth of between 1-2 percent each. However, both wind and solar energy experienced significant growth in 2020. Wind energy had grown almost 18 percent y/y, while solar had a growth of 21.6 percent y/y.

“Renewable energy continues to break deeper into the mainstream and has steadily increased its share of the world’s total power production in recent times. China has set a high benchmark for other nations in its quest to be the world’s primary source of renewable energy, a feat it is so far accomplishing,” Rex Pascual, an editor at TradingPlatforms.com, commented.

(WBJ)