Chris2fur1943 (@chris2fur1943.bsky.social)

Nearly Half the World's Power Capacity Is Now Renewable - What That Really Means The numbers landing from the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report, “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026,” show significant and encouraging progress. A record 692 GW of renewable energy capacity was added globally in 2025, pushing total worldwide renewable power capacity to 5.14 terawatts — 49% of global installed power capacity. That 49% measures the size of renewable infrastructure — the panels, turbines, and dams that exist and could, in theory, run at full power simultaneously. It does not measure how much renewable electricity is actually flowing through the grid at any given moment. This is an interesting detail — the infrastructure is there. Whether it is being fully used is a separate question. The new capacity for solar electricity is staggering Solar energy accounted for 511 GW of the 692 GW added — roughly 75% of all new renewable capacity and a record for a single calendar year, surpassing 2024’s previous high of 585 GW by 18,3%. Wind contributed 159 GW. Between them, solar and wind made up nearly all new renewable capacity added last year — and the reason is straightforward: they are now the cheapest options available. The solar story is no longer a story about cost curves... https://impakter.com/half-of-the-worlds-power-capacity-is-now-renewable/