REN Additions

The twin challenges of i) secure energy supply and ii) climate targets have propelled REN energy sources (basically solar & wind power) into a new phase of growth.  Accordind to IRENA, global REN capacity increased by 692 GW, in 2025 (~15% Y-o-Y increase), bringing the world to a cumulative inst. capacity of 5,149 GW.  Specific growth by technology was [IRENA, 2026]:

  

• 511 GW of PV was installed globally in 2025, bringing cumulative PV installs to ~2.4 TW (IIEA-PVPS estimates annual additions of 608–698 GW, driving cumulative capacity toward ~3 TW, led by China, >415 GW).

• 159 GW of new WIND capacity was added in 2025, bringing total installed wind capacity to 1,291 GW (IEA-PVPS estimates annual additions of 165 GW and a cumulative capacity toward ~1,3 TW).

• 3.4 GW of BIOENERGY (biopower) installed capacity was added in 2025, bringing global installed bioenergy capacity to 154 GW.

• 18.4 GW of new HYDROPOWER capacity was added (excluding pumped storage), maintaining hydropower as a backbone of the global REN energy system with a cumulative total of 1,296 GW.

​  

Solar and wind together accounted for around 97% of all new renewable energy capacity added in 2025. At the global level, solar capacity increased by 27% (YoY), while wind capacity grew by 14% (YoY) [IRENA, 2026].  Figure 1 shows projected changes in global electricity generation from 2022 to 2025 [GWEC, 2023].

  

The lowest-cost renewable power projects in 2025 were in China, with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of USD 27/MWh for onshore wind and USD 33/MWh for utility-scale solar PV [IRENA, 2026].  Figure 2 shows global weighted-average total installed costs for renewable energy technologies from 2010 to 2024 and the corresponding percentile ranges, while Figure 3 shows LCOE trends for electricity generation technologies from 2010 to 2024.

  

Asia growth

 

The growth of renewables is persistently concentrated in a few countries and regions like Asia, the U.S., and Europe.  Almost half of all new capacity in 2024 was added in Asia, resulting in a total of 2.4 TW of REN capacity.  In 2024, China led the way, adding 370 GW to the continent’s new capacity [ENERDATA, 2025].