Renewable energy

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Renewables now make up 30% of global electricity generation

Renewable energy, sourced from replenishable natural resources like sunlight, wind, and geothermal heat, is pivotal in electricity generation, heating, cooling, and transportation. It offers off-grid solutions for remote areas, produces minimal greenhouse gases, and enhances energy security due to its wide geographical distribution. As global efforts to mitigate climate change intensify, the shift to low-carbon energy, led by renewables, is accelerating. Technologies such as solar PV and wind are becoming cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Increasing the renewable share in energy systems involves electrifying heating and transport sectors, using biofuels, and deploying solar water heating, biomass burners, and geothermal heating. Achieving climate goals requires rapid renewable energy deployment across all sectors, supported by favourable policies and market conditions.

You can find further information below about the technologies, costs and current developments within each of the seven major types of renewables:

Learn more about renewables by reading our Energy Insights.

For the latest news and articles on renewable energy read New Energy World.

View our dedicated Collections on Hydrogen.

What's new?

Major hydrogen project advances in the Netherlands but UK ambitions may be scaled back

6th August 2025

  Air Liquide takes FID to build ELYgator electrolyser in the Netherlands Industrial gases company Air Liquide has taken the final inve...

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Global FLNG capacity will triple by decade-end, while LNG supply is set to surge in 2026, say new reports

6th August 2025

Rystad estimates global FLNG capacity will reach 42mn t/y by 2030, climbing to 55mn t/y by 2035, almost four times the 14.1mn t/y recorded in 2024. Te...

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Canada sets goal of 5 GW of offshore wind by 2030, while US sector faces policy headwinds

6th August 2025

The government of Canada and the province of Nova Scotia have jointly designated the North Atlantic areas of French Bank, Middle Bank and Sable Island...

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EU set to install less new solar in 2025 than it did last year – the first annual drop in a decade

6th August 2025

The report says the downturn is particularly linked to a declining residential rooftop segment, as the energy crisis and related public-sector support...

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Brazil announces free power scheme for 17 million low-income homes during gas-fired power plant inauguration ceremony

6th August 2025

Highlighting the government’s commitment to social justice and increasing the income of the most vulnerable families through programmes created by the...

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Events and training

Level 3: Advanced Energy Manager

29th September 2025 - 3rd December 2025

This 9-day course is an advanced qualification aiming to support experienced energy managers to further advance their careers by gaining the skills an...

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Level 1: Certificate in Energy Management Essentials - October 2025

6th October 2025 - 10th October 2025

About: This introductory 5 day classroom course provides a comprehensive, practical overview of the fundamentals of energy management, equipping ...

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Maintenance Strategy Fundamentals - October 2025

17th October 2025 - 20th October 2025

In this 2 half-day training course on the 17 & 20 of October 2025, you will gain the fundamental knowledge and understanding to develop an efficie...

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Using Reliability Centred Maintenance - November 2025

17th November 2025 - 21st November 2025

This 2 half-day virtual online training course on the 17 & 21 of October 2025, will allow you to optimise your asset maintenance plan with Reliabi...

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Technical guidance publications

EI 3596

SafetyOn Safe by Design workshop report: Review of the risks and control measures for current and ageing high voltage equipment (including boundary switches to low voltage equipment) in and around wind turbine generators

July 2025

This document has been produced to assist the onshore wind industry to reduce, and where practicable, eliminate the hazards associated with high-volta...

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EI 3590

SafetyOn 2024 Incident data report

June 2025

This report presents the analysis of health and safety incident data submitted by SafetyOn members and serves to highlight key risk areas that can inf...

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EI 3584

G+ Good practice guideline - Governance of mechanical lifting operations in the offshore wind industry

May 2025

This new G+ good practice guidance aims to share, advance and encourage good practice for the governance of lifting operations in the offshore wind in...

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EI 3586

SafetyOn Good practice guidelines: Welfare in the onshore wind industry

March 2025

The first edition of the SafetyOn GPG on welfare in the onshore wind industry is a resource for wind companies to adopt and implement within their own...

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EI 3462

Wind Turbine Safety Rules Procedure 5: Temporary application of an alternative safe systems of work

February 2025

The Wind Turbine Safety Rules (WTSRs) are a model set of Safety Rules and procedures to help formalise a Safe System of Work (SSoW) to manage the sign...

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Statistical Review of World Energy

The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy™ analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.

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