Global solar and wind capacity to more than triple to 8 TW by 2033: Wood Mackenzie

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Global energy storage to grow by 636% over the next decade 926 GW/2789 According to the latest update of Wood Mackenzie’s global market forecasts, 1,085 GW/3,147 GWh will be added to the total GWh added, while at least 5.4 TW of wind and solar will be added, taking the total to 8 TW.

New solar and wind capacity will grow from 500 GW installed in 2023 to an average of 560 GW per year over the next decade, Wood Mackenzie predicts. The firm expects solar to lead this deployment and account for 59% of the global renewable capacity coming online over the next decade.

Wood Mackenzie also predicts that China will dominate the market for new solar, wind and energy storage installations and will connect 3.5 TW of these resources to the grid by 2033.

“Political support from China’s central government is driving the world’s largest wind power market,” Wood Mackenzie said in a statement. The firm forecasts China will install about 91.5 GW of wind capacity per year over the next decade, while North and South America are set to install a combined 230 GW by 2033.

However, Wood Mackenzie said countries in North America and Asia, as well as Western Europe, will face “challenges related to permitting, grid access, financing and supply chain availability” that will impact their offshore wind markets by 2026.

In terms of energy storage, global “deployment in 2023 is expected to grow by a record 162% over 2022, with 45 GW installed,” said Anna Darmani, principal analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s Global Energy Storage team. “While impressive, this growth is just the beginning of the multi-TW market.”

Wood Mackenzie predicts that grid-scale energy storage projects “will boom as developers seek to capitalize on emerging contract revenue opportunities.”

“Demand from the distributed segment fell 23% in 2024 as retail rates stabilize,” the company said in a statement. “However, with lower system costs and regulatory changes, growth in the distributed market is expected to resume from 2026.”

“Energy storage will have the most balanced geographic footprint in this timeframe, in part because of its important role in making renewable energy available,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president of global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.