Global capacities for electricity production from renewable sources are expected to double in the next five years, boosted by concerns about energy security arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

In its annual renewable energy outlook report, the IEA estimated that global capacity would rise by 2,400 Gigawatts (GW), the equivalent of all of China’s current electricity generation capacity, to 5,640 GW in 2027.

This is a 30% increase over the one forecast by the IEA a year ago. The high gas and electricity prices arising from this year’s global energy crisis have made technologies for the production of energy from renewable sources more attractive. In addition, the IEA points out that the expansion of renewables is also driven by the fact that the US, China and India are implementing policies and reforms that support the introduction of renewable capacity faster than previously expected.

“Renewables were already expanding at a rapid pace, but the global energy crisis has thrown them into an extraordinary phase of even faster growth, as countries look to take advantage of their benefits for energy security,” said the IEA director, Fatih Birol. “The world is going to add in the next five years as much energy production capacity from renewable sources as it added in the previous 20 years,” added Fatih Birol, according to Agerpres.

The IEA report claims that renewables would be responsible for more than 90% of the expansion of global electricity generation capacity over the next five years, overtaking coal to become the most important source of electricity globally in 2025.

Globally, installed capacity for photovoltaic energy production is expected to triple by 2027, when they will become the most important electricity production capacity worldwide, while wind capacity is expected to double.

In parallel, the demand for biofuels would register a jump of 22% until 2027, the IEA report also states.

The International Energy Agency is the main advisory body on energy issues of the 29 most developed countries. The agency was established in response to the first oil shock of 1973-1974, to coordinate the release of oil from reserve stocks.