Renewable energy reached 46% of global installed power capacity at the end of 2024, but capacity and electricity generation measure different things. This overview separates those measures across global, regional and U.S. data, and distinguishes observed results, estimates and forecasts.
Key Renewable Energy Statistics
These highlights summarize the most useful figures across the period and geographies covered:
- In 2024, 585 GW of renewable power capacity was added worldwide.
- At the end of 2024, renewables represented 46% of global installed power capacity.
- In 2024, renewables supplied 92.5% of global power-capacity additions.
- In 2024, solar power added 452 GW worldwide.
- In 2024, wind supplied 8% of global electricity generation.
- In 2024, solar PV supplied 7% of global electricity generation worldwide.
- In 2024, hydropower supplied 14% of global electricity generation.
- In 2024, renewables produced one-third of global electricity.
- In 2024, China generated about 35% of its electricity from renewables.
- In 2024, the United States generated an estimated 23% of its electricity from renewables.
- In 2024, China added over 340 GW of solar PV capacity.
- In 2024, the United States added almost 50 GW of solar PV to the grid.
- In 2023, U.S. utility-scale renewables supplied 21.4% of utility-scale generation.
- In 2023, small-scale U.S. solar PV contributed an estimated 73.62 billion kWh.
- In 2023, renewable energy supplied about 9% of total U.S. energy consumption.
- From 2024 through 2030, global renewable capacity is forecast to increase by over 5,520 GW.
- By 2030, solar PV and wind are forecast to provide 95% of renewable capacity additions.
Contents
- Global renewable energy capacity statistics
- Renewable electricity generation statistics
- Solar and wind renewable energy trends
- Hydropower, bioenergy and other renewable data
- U.S. renewable energy generation and consumption
- Renewable energy forecasts and grid development
Global Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics
Capacity is the maximum net generating capacity installed and connected at the end of a period; it is not the amount of electricity actually generated. IRENA’s global compilation generally uses calendar-year-end capacity and draws on questionnaires, official statistics, industry reports and other sources.
| Global capacity measure | 2024 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Renewable capacity added | 585 GW | World, observed |
| Renewable capacity growth | 15.1% | Year over year, observed |
| Share of power-capacity additions | 92.5% | World, observed |
| Renewable share of installed power capacity | 46% | End of year, observed |
Source: Renewable Energy Capacity Statistics 2025.
Solar accounted for 452 GW of 2024 additions, while wind added 113 GW. China, the United States and the European Union together installed 489 GW, representing 83.6% of global new renewable capacity.
Regional distribution was uneven. Africa added 4.2 GW, or 0.7% of the global total, while small island developing states had 9 GW of combined renewable capacity at year-end, equal to 0.2% of the world total.
Renewable Electricity Generation Statistics by Technology and Region
Generation statistics describe electricity produced, rather than the maximum output potential represented by capacity. The IEA labels several 2024 values as estimates, so they should be read as estimated shares for the stated geography and year.
| Technology or grouping | Share of global electricity, 2024 | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Hydropower | 14% | Estimated generation share |
| Wind | 8% | Estimated generation share |
| Solar PV | 7% | Estimated generation share |
| Bioenergy and waste | 3% | Estimated generation share |
| All renewables | One-third | Estimated generation share |
Source: Global Energy Review 2025: Electricity.
Renewables and nuclear together covered two-fifths of global electricity generation in 2024, although that combined clean-energy measure is not the same as the renewable-only share. Country and regional estimates also show substantial variation: renewables generated over 20% of India’s electricity, about 35% of China’s, 23% of the United States’, and nearly half of the European Union’s electricity in 2024.
These figures are not directly interchangeable with U.S. utility-scale statistics below. The IEA’s 2024 U.S. estimate is broader than the EIA’s 2023 utility-scale measure, which excludes separately reported small-scale solar.
Solar and Wind Renewable Energy Trends
Solar and wind drove most of the recent expansion. The IEA estimated about 700 GW of renewable capacity additions worldwide in 2024, approximately 25% above 2023, with solar PV contributing more than three-quarters and solar PV plus wind accounting for 95% of renewable capacity growth.
| Solar and wind measure | 2024 result | Geography and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Installed solar PV capacity | 2.2 TW | World, estimated end-of-year stock |
| Solar PV additions | About 550 GW | World, estimated capacity additions |
| Wind additions | Around 120 GW | World, estimated capacity additions |
| China solar PV additions | Over 340 GW | DC basis, estimated |
| China wind additions | 80 GW | Estimated |
| U.S. solar PV added to grid | Almost 50 GW | Estimated |
| India solar PV additions | Around 30 GW | Estimated |
| Brazil solar PV additions | Over 16.5 GW | Estimated; utility-scale and distributed |
Source: Global Energy Review 2025: Electricity.
Global solar PV additions were nearly 30% above 2023. In China, solar additions were 30% higher than in 2023; utility-scale plants drove over 60% of that expansion, while about 30 GW of residential PV represented less than 10% of China’s solar additions.
India’s 2024 solar installation was almost triple its 2023 solar growth. These rounded, estimated comparisons describe additions, not generation or total installed capacity.
Hydropower, Bioenergy and Other Renewable Energy Data
Hydropower remains a major generation technology even as solar and wind dominate new capacity. Worldwide hydropower installations more than doubled to over 25 GW in 2024, measured as capacity installations rather than electricity output.
The IEA’s main-case forecast expects annual hydropower additions of 20–30 GW from 2024 through 2030, with more than 165 GW becoming operational over that period. China is expected to account for almost 40% of forecast global hydropower expansion.
Bioenergy and other renewables are forecast to reach roughly 12 GW of annual additions by 2030. The category combines technologies in the IEA forecast and should not be treated as a single generation technology.
U.S. preliminary utility-scale generation data for 2023 provide a narrower technology view:
- Utility-scale hydropower generated 240 billion kWh, or 5.7% of utility-scale generation.
- Utility-scale biomass generated 47 billion kWh, or 1.1%; this includes wood, landfill gas, biogenic municipal waste and other biomass waste.
- Utility-scale geothermal generated 16 billion kWh, or 0.4%.
Source: Renewables 2024: Electricity for global forecasts and What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source? for preliminary U.S. data.
U.S. Renewable Energy Generation and Consumption Statistics
The EIA reported 4,178 billion kWh of U.S. utility-scale generation in 2023. Renewables supplied 894 billion kWh, or 21.4%, while the utility-scale definition covers facilities of at least 1 MW and reports small-scale solar separately.
| U.S. utility-scale renewable source | 2023 generation | Share of utility-scale generation |
|---|---|---|
| Wind | 425 billion kWh | 10.2% |
| Solar | 165 billion kWh | 3.9% |
| Hydropower | 240 billion kWh | 5.7% |
| Biomass | 47 billion kWh | 1.1% |
| Geothermal | 16 billion kWh | 0.4% |
| All renewables | 894 billion kWh | 21.4% |
Source: What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?. Solar includes 162 billion kWh of PV and 3 billion kWh of solar thermal.
Small-scale solar PV, from systems under 1 MW or not attached to a larger plant, added an estimated 73.62 billion kWh in 2023 and is not included in the utility-scale table.
Renewable energy is broader than electricity. In 2023, the United States used about 8.2 quadrillion Btu of renewable energy, equal to 9% of total energy consumption, and the electric power sector accounted for about 39% of renewable energy consumption.
EIA production data also show that U.S. biofuels reached a record 1.4 million barrels per day in 2024, up 6% from 2023. U.S. solar production increased 25% and wind production increased 8% in 2024.
Sources: Renewable energy explained and In 2024, the United States produced more energy than ever before.
Renewable Energy Forecasts, Targets and Grid Development
Forecasts describe a modeled future, not an observed result. The IEA main case projects annual global renewable capacity additions rising from 666 GW in 2024 to almost 935 GW in 2030, with cumulative renewable capacity increasing by over 5,520 GW from 2024 through 2030.
| Forecast or pipeline indicator | Result | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Solar PV and wind share of additions | 95% | 2024–2030, world forecast |
| China new renewable capacity | 3,207 GW | 2024–2030 forecast |
| U.S. renewable expansion | Almost 500 GW | 2024–2030 forecast |
| India annual additions | 15 GW to 62 GW | 2023 to 2030 forecast |
| Global renewable capacity under stated ambitions | Almost 8,000 GW | 2030, 150 countries |
| IEA main-case global capacity | Almost 9,760 GW | 2030 forecast |
Source: Renewables 2024: Electricity.
The almost 8,000 GW figure represents current government ambitions assessed across 150 countries, not guaranteed deployment. The IEA main case reaches almost 9,760 GW in 2030, or 2.7 times the 2022 level, and expects 73 of the 150 assessed countries to reach or exceed existing renewable-capacity ambitions.
Market and grid indicators show why planned capacity should not be confused with operating plants. Competitive auctions awarded 82 GW globally in the first half of 2024: about 82 GW of the 92 GW offered, an 89% award rate, while awards are not the same as construction or commissioning.
More than 3,000 GW of renewable generation capacity was in grid queues in the IEA’s 2023 assessment, with half in advanced development stages. Queue capacity is a pipeline indicator and is not guaranteed to be built.
Source: Renewables 2023: Electricity.
The reported units cover different concepts: GW and TW describe capacity, kWh describes electricity generation, and quadrillion Btu describes total energy consumption. They should not be combined or converted without an explicit source-supported conversion.