IRENA was officially founded in Bonn, Germany on January 26, 2009. During its Founding Conference 75 countries signed the IRENA Statute and made clear commitment to changing the global energy paradigm. The headquarters of the Organization is located in Abu Dhabi.

In accordance with Article IV of the Statute of IRENA, it coordinates and intensifies the work of its members aimed at the development of renewable energy potential by analyzing, initiating a dialogue, providing recommendations, promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology. As a member of the Agency, Ukraine has an access to the unique knowledge about the development of renewable energy, the world's best experience in renewable energy and an opportunity to participate in specialized researches that are run by the IRENA Secretariat in order to find effective ways to reduce world dependence on fossil energy sources.

IRENA estimates that Ukraine has the largest potential for solar (70 GW) and wind energy (320 GW), as well as biomass generation in Southeast Europe. According to the results of the REmap 2030 analysis, Ukraine has a potential to increase renewable energy use by ten-fold from 87 PJ in 2009, to 870 PJ of total final renewable energy in 2030. At the same time, 73% of the renewable energy potential in Ukraine is accounted for by heat, 20% for electricity generation and 7% for transport. The Agency also identified additional potential of 26.9 TWh of wind energy, 6.2 TWh of biomass and 5.8 TWh of solar photovoltaic (PV) that would boost the share of renewables in the electricity sector to 25%.