The numbers landing from the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report, “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026,” show significant and encouraging progress. A record 692 GW of renewable energy capacity was added globally in 2025, pushing total worldwide renewable power capacity to 5.14 terawatts — 49% of global installed power capacity.
That 49% measures the size of renewable infrastructure — the panels, turbines, and dams that exist and could, in theory, run at full power simultaneously. It does not measure how much renewable electricity is actually flowing through the grid at any given moment. This is an interesting detail — the infrastructure is there. Whether it is being fully used is a separate question.
The new capacity for solar electricity is staggering
Solar energy accounted for 511 GW of the 692 GW added — roughly 75% of all new renewable capacity and a record for a single calendar year, surpassing 2024’s previous high of 585 GW by 18,3%. Wind contributed 159 GW. Between them, solar and wind made up nearly all new renewable capacity added last year — and the reason is straightforward: they are now the cheapest options available.
The solar story is no longer a story about cost curves. This is now a story about what happens when the cheapest form of new electricity generation is also the easiest to build. The answer, apparently, is 511 GW in a single year — a number that would have been considered science fiction a decade ago.
Who is driving global renewable expansion?
Asia accounted for 74.2% of all new renewable capacity in 2025, a share so dominant it raises an obvious question: is this a global energy transition or a regional one?
The counterpoint is the speed of growth elsewhere. Africa recorded its highest-ever annual capacity increase, adding 11.3 GW — a 15.9% rise compared to the previous year, driven by Ethiopia, South Africa, and Egypt. The Middle East grew by 28.9% year-on-year, led by Saudi Arabia — notable, given the kingdom’s parallel role in global oil markets, but reflecting genuine pressure to diversify.
Both regions are growing fast in percentage terms but in raw volume, they are still far behind. This shows that, while Asian markets use the most energy, add the most too, some of the other economies follow the trend worldwide at a smaller scale.
However, the inverse examples exist too. Central America and the Caribbean recorded a combined total of just 2 GW of renewable capacity — less than what China adds in weeks. They are smaller markets, but the numbers are still very low.
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The number that cuts both ways
One data point in the IRENA report deserves more attention than it is receiving. Renewables accounted for 85.6% of all power capacity expansion in 2025. That sounds like cause for celebration — until you note that it is down from 92.5% in 2024. Despite record renewable additions, the non-renewable capacity grew noticeably as well. While solar was breaking records, fossil fuel investments grew. Moreover, it seems that the additions of this year did a worse job at covering the new demand, compared to the previous year.
IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera argued that countries investing in the energy transition are weathering geopolitical volatility with less economic damage, pointing to Middle East escalation and fossil fuel price swings as the structural case for homegrown, low-cost renewable energy. The argument is sound. The data also suggests that not everyone has drawn the same conclusion.
Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
The milestone is real. Total solar capacity worldwide now stands at approximately 2.4 TW, a figure that would have been unthinkable at the start of this decade. The modern infrastructure will determine the energy mix for decades.
But installed capacity is a promise, not a delivery. The 49% of total energy from renewables is a figure marking how much of the world’s power infrastructure is capable of running on renewable inputs. Whether it actually does — when the sun sets, when the wind drops, in the countries that need it most — depends on factors like battery storage, grid investment, and political will that no single capacity statistic can resolve.
Half the world’s power capacity is now renewable. The other half, and what happens to it, is where the transition is actually decided.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: A solar power plant. Cover Photo Credit: Kelly.
