Global Wind and Solar Additions Hit Record 814 GW in 2025, Pushing Total Capacity Past the 4 Terawatt Mark
The world installed a record 814 GW of wind and solar capacity in 2025, a 17 percent increase over 2024, lifting total global capacity past 4 terawatts for the first time while wind and solar overtook fossil fuels in EU electricity generation.
Overview
The world added a record 814 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity in 2025, a 17 percent increase over the 696 GW installed in 2024, according to data published by energy think tank Ember and reported by Electrek. Total installed wind and solar capacity now stands at 4,174 GW, crossing the 4 terawatt threshold for the first time. In a parallel milestone, wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels across the European Union for the first time in 2025, as previously reported in connection with the IEA’s projections for renewables reaching 50 percent of global electricity by 2030.
What We Know
Solar dominated the 2025 expansion, accounting for 647 GW of new installations, an 11 percent year-over-year increase from 582 GW in 2024. Global solar capacity now stands at nearly 2,900 GW. Wind energy saw even sharper proportional growth, with installations jumping 47 percent to 167 GW, bringing total global wind capacity to approximately 1,300 GW. Nearly 4 GW of solar was installed for every 1 GW of wind, according to Electrek.
The new capacity added in 2025 alone can generate approximately 1,046 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to displace more than one-seventh of global gas-fired power generation. Ember analyst Kingsmill Bond stated that “solar, wind, and batteries give importers a genuine path to energy security, one that is cheaper, faster to deploy, and doesn’t come with geopolitical strings attached,” as reported by Electrek.
China continued to drive the expansion, accounting for roughly two-thirds of both global solar and wind capacity additions in 2025. Its combined operating wind, utility-scale solar, and distributed solar capacity surpassed 1.6 TW during the year, triple the combined capacity of the United States and India, according to Electrek.
EU Surpasses Fossil Fuels
In Europe, wind and solar together generated a record 30 percent of EU electricity in 2025, overtaking fossil fuels at 29 percent for the first time, according to Yale E360. Total renewables, including hydropower, supplied nearly half of EU electricity. Solar generation grew more than 20 percent for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 369 TWh, as reported by Euronews. Five countries saw solar alone exceed 20 percent of their electricity: Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and the Netherlands, according to Yale E360.
Coal-fired power fell to a historic low of 9.2 percent of EU electricity. Ireland and Finland both closed their last coal plants in 2025, further advancing Europe’s phase-out timeline, as reported by Yale E360. Over the past five years, wind and solar’s share of EU electricity has grown from 20 percent to 30 percent, while fossil fuels declined from 37 percent to 29 percent, according to Euronews.
What We Don’t Know
Several uncertainties temper the record headline. China’s dominance in deployment raises questions about whether the rest of the world can sustain comparable growth trajectories. G7 nations collectively accounted for only about 11 percent of the global wind and solar pipeline in 2025, despite controlling roughly half of global wealth.
Grid infrastructure remains a binding constraint. In the EU alone, 72 TWh of renewable energy was curtailed in 2024 due to grid congestion, costing approximately 9 billion euros in congestion management, according to Euronews. The EU requires an estimated 584 billion euros in grid investment by 2030 to absorb planned renewable capacity. Ember analysts have warned that natural gas generation in the EU rose 8 percent year-over-year in 2025, partly compensating for a 12 percent drop in hydropower output caused by drought, according to Yale E360.
Whether the global pace of additions is sufficient to meet the COP28 pledge to triple renewable capacity by 2030 also remains an open question. IRENA has estimated that reaching the 11.2 TW target requires annual growth of at least 16.6 percent through the end of the decade.
Analysis
The crossing of the 4 terawatt milestone marks a structural shift in global energy markets. Just two years ago, total global solar capacity had only reached 1 TW. The speed of doubling and redoubling suggests that cost curves and manufacturing scale, particularly in China, have reached a self-reinforcing trajectory where each year’s additions build on an expanding industrial base.
The EU result is equally significant in qualitative terms. Wind and solar overtaking fossil fuels in a major industrialized bloc demonstrates that the transition is not limited to installed capacity on paper but is translating into actual generation share. Yet the rise in gas-fired generation alongside the renewable surge underscores a persistent gap: without adequate grid flexibility and storage, intermittent renewables still need fossil fuel backup during periods of low wind or drought-reduced hydro output.
The contrast between global headline numbers and regional grid realities will likely define the next phase of the energy transition. Installation records are necessary but not sufficient. The capacity to deliver, transmit, and store that clean electricity at scale will determine whether these records translate into sustained emissions reductions.