World to add less clean energy capacity in 2026, IRENA chief says

SINGAPORE: The world will add less clean energy capacity in 2026 for the first time in five years, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has said.

IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera blamed inadequate transmission networks and trade barriers. He spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week conference.

"The main cause of a lack of new record in additions this year is the mismatch between generation capacity and the capacity to distribute and transmit electricity," he said.

Growth in solar and wind capacity has accelerated every year since 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global supply chains. In 2025, clean power installations, including hydropower, rose by a record 692 gigawatts (GW), or 15.5%, to 5,149 GW. That represents half of the world's power capacity.

Mr La Camera noted a slowdown in renewables deployment in China. He linked it to curtailment, which is the rejection of clean power when a grid reaches its limits.

China is the world's biggest renewable energy producer. In the first half of 2026, it turned away enough clean energy to power Mexico for a year.

Networks in countries such as Australia and Japan have also failed to keep pace with a surging renewables buildout.

"The amount of the (capacity) increase in the other parts of the world this year, I don't think it will offset the slowing down in China," Mr La Camera said.

He declined to give a numerical forecast for expected growth in clean energy additions this year.

Governments have pledged to expand clean energy use to secure reliable power supply and cut costs. The push gained urgency after the US-Israeli war with Iran choked energy supplies and inflated prices.

Renewable energy additions are crucial to reducing global emissions. The United Nations said in a report last week that "urgent and stringent" emission cuts were required to slow global warming.