Global renewable energy capacity up 50% in 2020 ABU DHABI, 5 hours, 30 minutes ago The world added more than 260 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity last year, exceeding expansion in 2019 by close to 50 per cent, according to data released today by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). Global renewable energy capacity additions in 2020 beat earlier estimates and all previous records despite the economic slowdown that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Emirates news agency WAM. Irena’s annual Renewable Capacity Statistics 2021 shows that renewable energy’s share of all new generating capacity rose considerably for the second year in a row. More than 80 per cent of all new electricity capacity added last year was renewable, with solar and wind accounting for 91 per cent of new renewables.