Highlights of the global energy transition in 2025

Solar and wind not only kept pace with global electricity demand growth, they surpassed it across a sustained period for the first time, signalling that clean power is now steering the direction of the global energy system.

Solar gained momentum in regions once seen as peripheral, from Central Europe to Africa, while BRICS nations crossed a major milestone by generating more than half of global solar power. Rapid advances in battery technology and a decline in prices brought around-the-clock solar into credible, near-commercial reality, opening the door to fossil-free baseload power in sunny regions.

The rise of “electrotech” – solar, wind, batteries and electrified transport, heating and industry – became the dominant engine of global energy growth, led by China’s emergence as the world’s first electrostate. As AI and data centre demand grew, clean power and strong grids became the new competitive edge for modern economies.

Clean energy momentum builds as solar and wind outpace global electricity demand growth

Solar and wind are now expanding fast enough to meet all new electricity demand, a milestone reached in the first three quarters of 2025. Ember’s analysis published in November shows that these technologies are no longer just catching up; they are outpacing demand growth itself. Together, solar and wind supplied 17.6% of global electricity in the first three quarters of 2025, up from 15.2% over the same period last year, pushing the total share of low-carbon sources to 43%.

For the first time across a sustained period, renewables, including solar, wind, hydro and smaller sources such as geothermal, generated more electricity than coal. At the heart of this shift is solar, whose growth was more than three times larger than any other source of electricity so far in 2025, confirming its role as the dominant force reshaping the global power system. Another analysis showed that the world is set to add 793 GW of renewable capacity in 2025, up 11% from the 717 GW added in 2024. At this pace, only a modest increase in annual additions is needed for the world to stay on track to triple global renewables by 2030.

Solar starting to take off in places that were once behind

In 2025, solar strengthened in markets that had long trailed behind the global leaders, as solar showed its potential to leapfrog fossil generation in emerging markets. Several countries outside the traditional frontrunners like China and Europe, are now recording sharper growth thanks to falling costs, easing supply bottlenecks and clearer policy signals.

In August 2025, Ember reported that there’s clear evidence of solar now accelerating across Africa. Imports of Chinese solar panels rose 60% in the 12 months to June 2025, with South Africa still the largest buyer but 20 other countries also posting record orders. Total imports reached 15 GW of capacity, up from 9.4 GW the year before. Some markets saw dramatic jumps. Algeria’s imports rose 33-fold, Zambia eightfold, Botswana sevenfold and Sudan sixfold, while Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Benin, Angola and Ethiopia all more than tripled their imports.

Central Europe, a region once behind on solar generation, is now expanding faster than many traditional European Union (EU) leaders. Summer 2025 underscored this momentum. In June, Hungary generated more than 40% of its electricity from solar, while Poland and Czechia also recorded their highest monthly solar output to date.

By 2024, the ten BRICS countries accounted for more than half of global solar generation – 51%, up from just 15% a decade earlier. This rapid rise signals a major shift in the centre of gravity of the global energy transition.

Rising solar and wind have reached scale in major electricity markets worldwide

2025 showed that wind and solar are now reaching scale in major economies around the world, fundamentally reshaping the energy system. In August, wind and solar generated over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record. In the EU, solar became the single largest source of power in June 2025. In Spain, expanding wind and solar has slashed the pricing power of fossil generators by 75% since 2019. The UK crossed a major threshold in September 2025 as wind and solar delivered more than half its electricity for the first time. California reached its own milestone too, with solar now standing as the state’s largest source of power. India is moving in the same direction. Ember’s October 2025 analysis showed that the country does not need to build coal capacity beyond what is already planned under its National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2032, provided it meets targets for solar, wind and storage.

The common thread is clear: as clean power reaches higher shares, it begins to set the price, weaken the influence of expensive fossil fuel-based generation and reduce imports. What once looked like just growth is now transforming market dynamics, affordability and energy security all at once.

Electrotech revolution accelerates in 2025

Electrotech, a set of efficient, scalable electricity-based technologies like solar, wind, batteries, EVs and heat pumps, is now the main driver of global energy growth. Solar capacity has doubled roughly every three years for 30 years, battery storage has nearly doubled annually since 2020 and EV sales have surged fifteenfold to 17.5 million since 2017. China, the world’s first “electrostate,” leads this transformation. It accounts for half of global solar panel installations, 60% of EV sales and two-thirds of global growth in electricity demand since 2019. In H1-2025, China’s fossil demand in electricity generation was down by 2%. Emerging markets from Viet Nam to Mexico and South Africa to India are leapfrogging older fossil systems, surpassing the United States in solar’s share of electricity. Mastery of the electric tech stack like batteries, motors and power electronics is now critical for industrial growth, jobs and strategic autonomy.

24/365 Solar is now within reach – thanks to rapidly falling battery costs

Steep declines in battery costs and rapid storage deployment are turning solar into a reliable power source for almost 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Ember’s June 2025 analysis shows that in high-insolation regions, solar paired with batteries can already deliver round-the-clock electricity at around US $104/MWh, undercutting new coal and nuclear, making “solar as baseload” both technically credible and increasingly cost-competitive. Mexico illustrates the potential benefits of such a shift: falling battery prices could unlock gigawatts of new solar and cut reliance on imported fossil fuels, with Ember estimating annual savings of about $1.6 billion USD from avoided gas imports.

India’s heavy industry story highlights another frontier of opportunity: large industrial consumers can now meet up to 80% of their annual electricity needs with clean power by combining solar, wind and storage in a cost-effective procurement mix. In many regions of India, the cost of such hybrid, round-the-clock clean power is already competitive with, and often cheaper than, coal-based supply.

Batteries are also emerging as a multi-tool for the power sector. Beyond storing excess RE, they provide fast frequency response, black start capabilities and other essential grid services that strengthen system reliability.

As storage costs continue to drop, solar-plus-batteries is emerging as the most scalable pathway to clean, reliable, fossil fuel-free electricity.

Clean power becomes the foundation of the global AI race

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centre growth became one of the most discussed energy issues of 2025. Those able to meet rising electricity demand will be positioned at the forefront of the technology revolution – and solar and wind are proving they are up to the job. Ember’s ASEAN analysis showed that data centres could account for 2–30% of national electricity demand by 2030, excluding Viet Nam. In Malaysia, for example, emissions could increase sevenfold if this growth is met with fossil-heavy grids, while up to 30% of this demand could instead be supplied by solar and wind. In Europe, the bottleneck is infrastructure: grid congestion in hubs such as Frankfurt, London and Dublin has created 7–10-year connection queues, pushing new AI investment toward regions with cleaner, more available capacity. The message is clear: the AI race is now an electricity and grid race. Countries that scale renewables and accelerate grid upgrades will be the ones that capture the next wave of digital economic growth.

What’s in store for 2026?

As 2025 comes to an end, the direction of travel is unmistakable: clean power is scaling, markets are shifting and the electricity system is becoming the centre of economic strategy – from AI growth to energy security. In 2026, the challenge will be turning this momentum into system-level transformation. Countries that expand storage, fix grid bottlenecks, set higher ambition and empower markets to integrate renewables will shape the next phase of global leadership.

For the bigger 2025 trends and the full global picture, watch out for our Global Electricity Review in April 2026, the first comprehensive overview of electricity changes across more than 200 countries.

Acknowledgements

Other Contributors

Dave Jones, Hannah Broadbent, Ardhi Arsala Rahmani, Lauren Orso, Kostantsa Rangelova, Duttatreya Das, Lam Pham and Sam Butler-Sloss

Header Image

Battery storage plant in the United States.

Credit: The Desert Photo / Getty images