World adds a record-breaking 814 GW of solar and wind in 2025

London, 20 March 2026 – According to new data from global energy think tank Ember, the world installed a record 814 GW of new solar and wind capacity in 2025, 17% more than in 2024 (696 GW).

The latest additions bring the combined global installed capacity of wind and solar to 4,174 GW (over 4 TW), highlighting the rapid expansion of the two fastest-growing sources of electricity in history.

Solar accounted for the majority of new capacity additions, with almost 4 GW of new solar added globally for every 1 GW of wind. 647 GW of solar capacity was added globally in 2025, up from 582 GW in 2024. This 11% year-on-year increase in 2025, following an already strong year in 2024, underscores that solar is playing an ever-larger role in the global power system. By the end of 2025, cumulative solar capacity had reached close to 2,900 GW.

Wind deployment, while lower than solar, saw a significant 47% increase, rising from 113 GW in 2024 to 167 GW in 2025. By the end of 2025, global installed wind capacity reached around 1,300 GW.

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Monthly capacity data tool

Renewables cushion the impact of gas price crunch

The wind and solar capacity added in 2025 alone can generate an estimated 1,046 TWh of electricity each year, which would be enough to displace more than a seventh of global gas generation or almost double (1.8x) Qatar’s annual LNG export volume. At current market prices, this is equivalent to annual gas import costs of roughly $138 billion.

Since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, the output of all solar and wind capacity currently installed worldwide has avoided the equivalent of roughly 330 TWh of gas generation, representing a potential saving of more than $40 billion.

The scale and speed of solar’s expansion is unlike anything seen before in the power sector. Along with accelerating capacity additions for wind, these technologies are on track to become the backbone of the global electricity supply. As they scale up, they will strengthen energy independence, reduce reliance on fragile fossil fuel supply chains, and help insulate consumers from price spikes in fossil fuel prices driven by geopolitical instability.

Leonard Heberer
‍Data Analyst, Ember

The continuing escalation in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the risks of dependence on imported oil and gas. 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.

Kingsmill Bond
‍Energy Strategist, Ember

Ember launches new data tool

The data from this press release can now be accessed through Ember’s new monthly capacity data tool. The tool provides an interactive way of tracking monthly wind and solar capacity deployment across 25 countries accounting for 93% of global solar and 92% of global wind capacity. The dataset is updated twice a month to provide the latest overview of the global rollout of wind and solar capacity.

The data is also available for download as a data file or through our API.

About Ember

Ember is an independent energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy. It creates targeted data insights to advance policies that urgently shift the world to a clean, electrified energy future.

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