2025 has been another record-breaking year for renewables. Globally, renewable power capacity reached around 4,448 GW by the end of 2024, after a record 585 GW of new capacity was added in a single year. Renewables made up 46% of all installed power capacity worldwide, and accounted for more than 90% of all new power additions.
Wind and solar are increasingly doing the heavy lifting. In the first half of 2025, global electricity generation from wind and solar combined surpassed coal for the first time, a milestone that would have seemed unlikely a decade ago. In the UK, renewables generated 50.8% of electricity in 2024, the first time they have provided more than half of annual demand. The message is clear: renewable energy is no longer a niche. It’s now the backbone of many electricity systems worldwide, and the question is less whether to use renewables, but more how fast and how efficiently they can be integrated.
Solar PV Continuing to Advance
Solar PV remains the fastest-growing renewable technology by some distance. In 2024, solar added around 452 GW of new capacity, making up roughly three-quarters of all renewable additions and about 72% of all new power capacity worldwide. By the end of 2024, global solar capacity stood at about 1,865 GW, the largest share of any renewable technology.
Looking ahead, it is likely that solar will remain the leading technology, but growth may be slower. One industry analysis suggests that changes to China’s market design could cause a temporary dip in global solar installations in 2026, even as long-term demand remains strong.
Wind Performance and Market Developments
Wind power has continued to expand in 2025, with both onshore and offshore segments showing signs of renewed strength after the supply-chain and financing challenges seen in previous years. Early global estimates suggest that 2025 could see around 130–140 GW of new wind capacity added, up from the 117 GW installed in 2024, marking a significant rebound driven largely by stronger investment in Europe, the US and Asia. Onshore wind remains the biggest contributor, but offshore wind is also recovering, with several large-scale projects reaching financial close in early 2025 after a difficult 2023–24 period.
Globally, onshore wind remains cost-competitive, but offshore wind has faced supply-chain pressures and policy uncertainty. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently reduced its offshore wind outlook by about 25% to 2030, even as onshore remains robust. For businesses, that means wind will remain central to decarbonisation, but project timelines and connection dates may be more volatile than in the past.
EV Charging and Battery Storage Expansion
2025 is proving to be a major year for EV charging expansion, building on the rapid progress of 2024. This year, 12,322 charge points have been added to the UK public network. Early 2025 data from the International Energy Agency shows that fast-charging deployment is up significantly year-on-year, with major networks in Europe and the UK expanding corridor charging sites to support long-distance EV travel.
Battery storage is growing just as quickly, and it is essential to making variable renewables dependable. The IEA notes that battery storage in the power sector was the fastest-growing commercially available energy technology in 2023, with around 42 GW of new battery storage capacity added that year. BloombergNEF expects another record year in 2025, with 94 GW of battery storage additions, a 35% increase on 2024, and forecasts that annual additions could reach 220 GW by 2035.
For businesses, this combination of EV charging and storage creates new options: depot charging with on-site solar and batteries, smart charging to shift demand away from peak prices, and vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-building solutions that can provide flexibility to the grid.
Carbon Capture and Storage: Growing, but Still Small
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expanding, but from a very small base compared to total emissions. By the end of 2024, global operational CCS capacity was around 51 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, with a similar amount under construction for 2025–2027. That means current operational capacity can capture only about 0.16% of the roughly 37,600 Mt of annual energy-related CO₂ emissions.
The IEA estimates that, based on the current project pipeline, capture capacity could reach around 430 Mt CO₂ per year by 2030, with storage capacity of roughly 670 Mt. High-profile projects such as Norway’s Longship – aiming to scale from 0.4 Mt to 5 Mt of CO₂ captured per year – signal growing policy and industry interest. However, recent research suggests that the global geological storage potential may be around ten times lower than previously thought, limiting the long-term role of CCS and reinforcing its use as a targeted solution for hard-to-abate sectors rather than a licence to maintain high fossil fuel use.
What to Expect in 2026
Looking ahead to 2026, most forecasts suggest that renewables will keep expanding, but with a more complex pattern across technologies. The IEA expects renewables to become the largest source of global electricity by 2026, providing around 36% of global power versus about 32% from coal, the latter’s lowest share in a century.
Solar PV is expected to remain the main driver of capacity growth, accounting for close to 80% of the projected increase in renewable capacity between 2025 and 2030, even if 2026 sees a short-term slowdown in new installations in some markets such as China. Onshore wind should continue to grow steadily, but offshore wind is likely to feel the impact of higher costs and tighter policy support, reflected in the reduced offshore forecast mentioned above.
Battery storage is expected to post another year of record additions, deepening its role as a core part of power systems rather than a niche technology. EV charging will keep expanding, particularly fast and ultra-fast charging, but the emphasis in mature markets will shift from simply adding chargers to optimising locations, speeds and grid impacts. CCS capacity will expand as projects under construction come online, but it will still represent a tiny fraction of the emissions challenge and is unlikely to change the overall dominance of renewables in the power mix by 2026.
2025 has demonstrated that renewables are now firmly embedded in global energy systems, with strong growth across solar, wind, battery storage and EV charging. These technologies are no longer emerging alternatives but essential to modern power generation .
As we move into 2026, the outlook remains positive, with solar, onshore wind and storage expected to lead further expansion. While offshore wind and CCS will progress more gradually, they’ll continue to play important roles in long-term decarbonisation. Keep up with our energy news updates for more renewables information in the new year and beyond!
