Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Kenya, Bhutan and Paraguay run on or are close to 100% renewable energy. The secret, beyond the fact that they are sparsely populated countries (or small in area), is their abundant natural resources. However, the map of the most renewable countries in the world is changing. The club is about to expand.
From traditional renewables to variables. Each of these seven countries generates electricity from traditional renewable sources, such as hydropower or first-generation geothermal energy.
The situation is different for the rest of the countries in the world, which do not have such abundant water or geothermal resources. However, there are 10 new countries that are on track to generate more than two-thirds of their electricity from renewable sources, and it is thanks to a strong commitment to variable energy.
The next one to arrive. A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) places emphasis on the 10 countries that are leading the transition towards variable renewable energies, which are, for the most part, wind and solar.
Denmark stands out as a leader in this race, and is expected to be 100% renewable by the end of the decade. In the first nine months of 2024, 72% of Danish electricity came from wind and sun, while 10% was generated from bioenergy, i.e. the transformation of biomass.
European prominence. There are seven other European countries on the list of candidates. Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland are rapidly moving towards an energy mix dominated by wind and sun. Portugal stands out as the favorite of this group with the projection that by 2030, 90% of its electricity will come from renewable sources.
France is also moving towards fully carbon-free energy, but its infrastructure relies primarily on low-grade nuclear power, putting it in a unique position within the global non-renewable landscape.
And South American. Chile is also making great progress with an unparalleled commitment to solar and wind energy. It leads renewable energy in Latin America along with Uruguay, which operated with 100% renewable energy for ten consecutive months thanks to its hydroelectric plants and its recent investments in wind, solar and biomass generators.
What’s coming The IEA report predicts that renewable energy will account for almost half of global electricity generation by 2030. Today it is 30%, so we are talking about a huge jump in five years.
To make this possible, countries will have to invest significantly in battery storage, more robust transmission infrastructure and demand management programs. The transition will not only be a matter of adding wind and solar capacity, but of building an electrical system capable of managing and balancing this new era of clean energy.
Image | EDP Portugal