50 years of global power.
By 2025, the world had
~9,000 GW of installed power capacity. In 1975, we had ~700
GW. This is more than 12x growth. The story of how we got
here is incredible !!
The map shows every power
plant in the world and when it was installed. Color denotes
technology, size of the bubble denotes plant capacity.
Era 1: The Nuclear Surge (1975–1990) The world
was building nuclear at a pace unimaginable today — peaking
at ~35 GW in a single year.
Era 2: The Fossil
Fuel Buildout (1995–2020) Two simultaneous booms. China's
coal machine: >1,000 GW built in 25 years. The US natural
gas surge: ~400 GW. In total, the world added ~3,000 GW of
coal and gas/oil in just 25 years.
Era 3: The
Solar & Wind Takeover (2015–present) Solar and wind
annual additions climbed from ~100 GW in 2015 to >600
GW/yr in 2025 (incl. DRE), while costs fell by 80%.
The
50% Milestone
Here's one that surprises people. Clean
energy (non-fossil — including hydro and nuclear) has
crossed 50% of global installed capacity right now.
>4,500 GW of non-fossil capacity. A transition that
looked impossible in 2010 is now the dominant investment
story of global power.
The Regional Stories
🇪🇺
Europe adopted RE years before anyone else — watch Germany
and Spain light up solar and nordic countries and UK
offshore wind starting late-2000s.
🇯🇵 Japan —
post-Fukushima (2011), a remarkable solar response: 3–4
GW/year for five straight years, then largely stalled. A
cautionary tale about what happens without sustained
policy.
🇨🇳 China so dominates modern RE that it almost
distorts the global picture: >1,500 GW of RE cumulative,
and still accelerating.
🇮🇳 India and 🇧🇷 Brazil are
catching up fast — India added ~40–50 GW of RE in 2025
alone.
🇺🇸 The US — steady, consistent, unglamorous.
Still adding renewable capacity, held back mainly by long
interconnection queues.
The Glaring Absences
Mexico.
Indonesia. And most starkly — Africa.
Africa has ~130
GW of expensive gas and oil capacity (look along the
coastlines) and just 16 GW solar + 11 GW wind — despite
having some of the world's best solar irradiation,
fastest-growing population, and largest energy access
deficit. This is not a technology problem. It is a financing
and policy problem.
Yes, the challenges are real
— transmission, intermittency, storage, curtailment. The
grid of the future won't build itself. But pause. We built
~2,500 GW of clean power in the last 10 years alone. Look at
what's possible when economics, policy, and technology
align. ⚡
NOTE: Chart excludes DRE and therefore
understates the full ~9 TW of global capacity.
Amol Phadke
Umed Paliwal
Ashish Khanna
Fatih Birol
India Energy & Climate Center (IECC)
Gauri Singh
Karan Mangotra
International Energy Agency (IEA)
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
International Solar AllianceGlobal Energy Monitor#energytransition
