International Renewable Energy Agency Celebrates 5 Years

IRENA anniversary

Tuesday marked the five year anniversary of the establishment of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin reflected on the organisation’s achievements and the great strides made towards a global renewable energy future.

“The past five years have witnessed a dramatic shift in the global energy sector,” he said.

“Technology costs of renewables have plummeted, investment is growing year over year and global capacity additions have skyrocketed. Leaders from the public and private sector around the world are committing to renewables over other energy sources in an unprecedented manner. We are truly in the midst of a total transformation of the global energy paradigm.”

Since it was established IRENA has made its presence felt in more than 175 countries with activities taking place in 90 countries. One of those countries is Australia. While we failed to sign the founding treaty in early 2009, Australia joined later that year.

5 years of IRENA

The origins of ARENA go back a long way. A proposal for an international agency focused on renewable energy was tabled 35 years ago, at the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in Nairobi in 1981.

IRENA rapidly grew after officially commencing operations in 2011; providing tools and resources for policy development,  renewable energy costing, resource potentials and employment.

“The growth of IRENA as an Agency is a testament to the strong commitment to renewable energy worldwide,” said Mr. Amin. “IRENA was created to support and accelerate the ongoing global energy transition and the rapid growth potential it offers well into the future.”

The organisation has borne witness to great change; such as the number of countries with national renewable energy targets jumping from 73 in 2010 to 164 in 2015.

During that period, global investment in renewables  has grown from  USD 239 billion in 2010 to USD 286 billion in 2015 and total installed renewable capacity has grown from 1,348 GW in 2010 to 1,985 GW in 2015.

Another organisation celebrating a significant milestone this year is us – Energy Matters is celebrating its 10th anniversary. For the last 8 years, we’ve also been tracking the wind and solar power revolution both locally and abroad through our news section, which features more than 4,000 articles.

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