According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy security worries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will cause a doubling of the world’s renewable power capacity over the next five years, Reuters reported.

The IEA stated in its annual assessment of the outlook for renewables that capacity globally is likely to increase by 2,400 gigawatts (GW) to 5,640 GW by 2027, which is equivalent to the entire power capacity of China today.

The increase exceeds the growth amount predicted a year earlier by 30%. This year’s worldwide energy crisis has resulted in high gas and electricity prices, which have increased the appeal of renewable energy sources.

The United States, China, and India are accelerating the deployment of renewable energy sources beyond what was first anticipated through the implementation of market and policy changes.

“Renewables were already expanding quickly, but the global energy crisis has kicked them into an extraordinary new phase of even faster growth as countries seek to capitalise on their energy security benefits,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

“The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the previous 20 years,” he added.

According to the report, over 90% of the increase in global electricity over the following five years will come from renewable sources, which are expected to surpass coal as the primary source of electricity globally by the beginning of 2025.

By 2027, the capacity of solar photovoltaic systems is expected to nearly triple globally, overtaking wind as the world’s largest source of electricity.

Meanwhile, biofuel demand is set to increase by 22% by 2027, the report said.