WATTS
WATTS ADDED · 2025
The climb up the Kardashev scale is built in gigawatts. This is what the world switched on in 2025.
- Solar511 GWNET
IRENA · Solar PV 510.3 GW of the 511 GW solar total
- Wind158.7 GWNET
- Battery storage112 GW · 307 GWhGROSS
BNEF · 112 GW / 307 GWh, excluding pumped hydro
- Coal97.4 GWGROSS
GEM coal · Commissioned; retirements not netted
- Gas60.4 GWGROSS
GEM gas · Newly commissioned gas plants
- Hydro18.4 GWNET
IRENA · Renewable hydropower, excluding pumped storage
- Nuclear4.4 GWGROSS
WNISR · net ≈ +1.5 GW · 4 reactors grid-connected (4.4 GW); 7 closed (2.8 GW); WNISR puts the net balance just above 1.5 GW
- Bioenergy3.4 GWNET
- Geothermal0.3 GWNET
CONTEXT
- Renewables total (IRENA)692 GW
- Renewables share of all net additions (IRENA)85.6%
- Solar, IEA PVPS count (different method from IRENA)692 GW
Power capacity added worldwide in 2025, by source. Figures come from different trackers with different methods (net vs gross, AC vs DC); they are shown side by side, not summed into a single exact total. No single global source publishes a 2026 year-to-date figure across all technologies, so this page shows calendar 2025.
INFO · NET is capacity change after closures. GROSS is what was switched on, before closures are subtracted.
SOURCES
2026-03 · net capacity change, AC where reported
2026 · gross, newly commissioned
2026-01 · gross, newly commissioned
2026-01-21 · gross grid connections; closures listed separately
2026-05-07 · new deployments, excludes pumped hydro
2026 · PV installations, IEA PVPS method