World powers ahead with renewables as South Africa’s draft plan signals pullback

While South Africa’s draft electricity plan is signalling a pullback in renewables investments for the period to 2030 relative to the prevailing policy, the rest of the world is powering ahead, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) reporting that 50% more renewables capacity was installed globally in 2023 than in 2022 and with record-breaking growth forecast for the coming five years. In its ‘Renewables 2023’ report, the IEA states that 507 GW of renewable-energy capacity was installed last year increasing the installed base to about 3 600 MW, with solar photovoltaic (PV) accounting for three-quarters of worldwide additions.