The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that after reaching a stable level last year, global renewable energy installations will see double-digit growth in 2019 thanks to strong growth in the solar photovoltaic (PV) sector.

Renewable energy is expected to grow at its fastest pace since 2015 to reach nearly 200 gigawatts this year, up nearly 12 percent from 2018. The big contributors will be wind and solar, with solar installations expected to grow by more than 17 percent.
IEA forecasts point out that in 2019, despite a slight decline in the Chinese market, new deployments in the solar sector will rise to nearly 115 gigawatts, and this year will be the first year that new additions to solar PV exceed the 100 gigawatts mark.
This year, the solar market in the EU, Vietnam, India, the United States and Japan will see a boom. Among them, Spain is expected to become the largest solar PV market in the EU.
"We are witnessing a dramatic fall in the cost of solar and strong growth in onshore wind. Offshore wind is showing encouraging signs, "said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
The onshore wind sector will also add to the upward trend of installed renewable energy capacity, with onshore wind installations expected to grow by 15% to 53 GW; Offshore wind expansion is expected to remain stable at around 5 GW.
The IEA noted that last year's failure to increase year-on-year capacity additions was largely due to policy changes in China, which in turn marked the government's key role in market stability. According to the IEA's Sustainable Development Plan (SDS), in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world should install an average of more than 300 GW of renewable energy per year between 2018 and 2030.