Renewables Surge by Almost 700 GW in 2025

Renewable energy capacity expanded by nearly 700 gigawatts last year as geopolitical turbulence continued to make the case for accelerating the transition to clean energy. With Middle East tensions continuing to rattle fossil fuel markets, nations are increasingly treating clean energy as a strategic shield against supply disruptions, not just a climate commitment.

The economics reinforce that logic as renewables are low-cost, domestically sourced, and deployable without the lead times or geopolitical entanglements that imported fuels carry.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026, released last week from Abu Dhabi, global renewables capacity reached roughly 5,150 GW by the end of 2025. Net additions came in at 692 GW, a year-on-year increase of around 15.5%. Renewables now account for nearly 86% of all new power capacity installed worldwide.

Non-renewable sources, by contrast, continue to shrink as a share of global additions, a structural shift that appears increasingly entrenched.

Solar remains the dominant force, contributing roughly 511 GW to last year’s additions, with photovoltaic technology making up virtually all of it. Wind followed at around 159 GW, up approximately 14% from the prior year. Together, the two technologies accounted for nearly 97% of all net new renewable capacity, a reflection of how far costs have fallen in both sectors over the past decade.

Bioenergy rounded out the top three at just over 3 GW, with Japan emerging as a surprise contributor after recording a sharp acceleration in its bioenergy build-out. Asia cemented its position as the engine of the global energy transition, contributing nearly three-quarters of all new renewable installations. Growth across the region came in at roughly 22%. China alone drove the vast majority of both wind and hydropower additions during the year.

Africa posted its strongest capacity increase on record at around 16%, powered primarily by Ethiopia, South Africa, and Egypt. The Middle East recorded its largest-ever annual renewable expansion at close to 29%, with Saudi Arabia leading, a notable development for a region historically defined by petroleum exports.

IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera argues that the data reflects more than market preference. La Camera contends that distributed energy systems anchored in renewables are structurally harder to destabilize than fossil-fuel-dependent grids. Countries that invested early in the clean energy transition, he suggests, are navigating current instability at lower economic cost than peers still locked into imported fuel dependence.

Those gains, however, sit alongside a widening and consequential divide. Central America and the Caribbean hold a combined renewable capacity of only around 21 GW, leaving those economies acutely exposed to fuel price volatility.

IRENA’s data underscores that low-renewables nations aren’t simply falling behind on climate goals. For many, it is a structural vulnerability that grows more costly and more urgent to close with every new geopolitical shock. Many more firms like Turbo Energy S.A. (NASDAQ: TURB) need to be established to bridge the renewable energy gaps in different markets around the world.

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