IRENA RES’ Stats 2026: Global renewable energy capacity 5,149 GW

On March 31, 2026, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published its annual statistical review of global renewable energy capacity. The report covers data as of the end of 2025 and confirms the trend from previous years: the global transition to RES continues at an unprecedented pace, but remains insufficient to achieve the target adopted at COP28 to triple installed RES capacity to over 11 TW by 2030.

By the end of 2025, total global renewable energy capacity reached 5,149 GW—an increase of 692 GW compared to the previous year, representing a 15.5% growth. This is the largest annual increase in absolute terms and the highest growth rate recorded to date. The share of RES in the world’s total installed power generation capacity increases by more than three percentage points—from 46.3% in 2024 to 49.4% in 2025. Variable RES (solar and wind energy) now account for 35.3% of total global power generation capacity, with an annual growth rate of 22.2%.

Technology Breakdown

Solar energy maintains its leading position with a total capacity of 2,392 GW, accounting for 47% of the global renewable energy mix. This is followed by hydropower with 1,296 GW (25%) and wind energy with 1,291 GW (25%). The remaining 3% is distributed among biomass (154 GW), geothermal energy (16 GW), and ocean energy (0.5 GW).

In the structure of annual growth, solar and wind energy dominate decisively, accounting for 96.8% of all net new capacity. Photovoltaic installations will add 510.3 GW of new capacity in 2025—a 27.2% increase. Wind energy recorded a record increase of 158.7 GW (+14.0%), with offshore wind accounting for 7.1% of total wind capacity. Hydropower capacity grows by 18.4 GW (+1.4%)—two and a half times more than in 2024, although 96% of the increase is attributable to China. Bioenergy adds 3.4 GW (+2.3%), and geothermal energy adds 0.3 GW (+1.7%).

Regional Distribution: Asia’s Dominance

The regional distribution of new capacity reveals significant disparities. Asia accounts for 74.2% of global growth, adding 513.3 GW of new capacity and reaching a total RES capacity of 2,891 GW (56.1% of the global total). The lion’s share of Asia’s growth is attributable to China, which alone added 440.1 GW—more than all other regions combined. India follows with 37.0 GW of new solar and 6.3 GW of new wind capacity.

Europe increased its capacity by 76.8 GW (+9.0%), reaching 934 GW (18.1% of the global total). Germany is the main driver with 20.5 GW of new installations, while Ukraine shows no change after losing over 7.5 GW of capacity in 2024. North America adds 42.1 GW (+7.4%), driven primarily by the U.S., which installs 34.0 GW of solar capacity—a 19.2% increase compared to 2024.

Notable growth is seen in the Middle East (+28.9%, +12.7 GW), led by Saudi Arabia, and in Africa (+15.9%, +11.3 GW), the highest in the continent’s history, with major contributions from Ethiopia, South Africa, and Egypt. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are expanding their capacity by 19.6% (+1.8 GW), with three-quarters of the growth coming from the Dominican Republic and Singapore.

The share of RES in new capacity

Despite the record absolute growth, the share of RES in total new installations for 2025 drops to 85.6% (from 92.0% in 2024). The reason is the sharp increase in conventional capacity, which nearly doubles compared to the previous year. A major factor in this is China, which added over 100 GW of new conventional capacity, of which approximately 81% is coal-fired. This trend illustrates the inherent contradiction of the global energy transition—the country that accounts for two-thirds of global new renewable energy capacity is simultaneously expanding its coal fleet.

The Gap to the 2030 Target

The report clearly illustrates the quantitative gap between the current trajectory and the target adopted at COP28 to triple global renewable energy capacity to over 11.17 TW by 2030. With a cumulative capacity of 5.15 TW by the end of 2025, the shortfall is 6.02 TW—or more than the entire current installed capacity. To achieve this goal, the average annual growth for the period 2026–2030 must exceed 1,200 GW, nearly double the record 692 GW added in 2025.

Even under an optimistic scenario, in which annual additions grow by 20% per year, the 2030 target remains difficult to achieve. The main obstacles are not technological—since the prices of photovoltaic modules and wind turbines continue to fall—but rather infrastructural and regulatory: insufficient transmission and distribution grid capacity, slow permitting and connection procedures, and financial constraints in developing economies.

Data in Context: G7, G20, and SIDS

The report also outlines the institutional dimension of global distribution. G20 countries account for 81.8% of global renewable energy capacity (4,210 GW) and will provide 88.5% of new capacity by 2025. G7 countries account for 22.1% of global capacity (1,140 GW), but only 12.0% of new installations—an indication that the burden of growth is shifting toward developing economies, primarily China and India. SIDS remain marginal players with just 0.2% of global capacity (11 GW), although their growth rate of 19.6% exceeds the global average.

IRENA’s data confirms that the global transition to RES appears irreversible—no other technology group is attracting investment or growing at similar rates. At the same time, the record growth from 2025 is radically insufficient to achieve the 2030 target. Accelerating the transition requires not so much more renewable generation capacity as overcoming grid and regulatory bottlenecks—modernizing transmission and distribution infrastructure, speeding up permitting procedures, developing energy storage solutions, and mobilizing financing for developing economies. Without a systematic approach to these challenges, the record figures will remain more an indicator of potential than of actual progress.