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Writing the story on India’s renewable energy journey pushed me to use the same materials that I gathered to look at what’s happening in the rest of the world.
The global renewable energy sector has witnessed a dramatic shift in competitive dynamics over the past decade, with India emerging as the fastest-growing major economy in clean energy deployment. While China maintains an insurmountable lead in absolute capacity, India’s exceptional growth trajectory is reshaping the international renewable energy hierarchy and challenging established rankings among the world’s clean energy superpowers.
Note that in this report, with information up to July–August 2025, the US maintains an unsteady second lead, fed by the gains left behind by the Biden administration, when the US renewable energy sector experienced a period of remarkable growth through the end of 2024.
A quick summary of the global renewable race in this one sentence using new renewable electricity generation capacity as the metric: China leads at 64%, the US comes in second with 11%, and the rest of the world combined accounts for the remaining 25%.
China’s commanding lead sets the pace
China continues to dominate the global renewable energy market, with an overwhelming 1,889 GW of installed renewable capacity as of the end of 2024, representing 64% of additional global renewable electricity generation capacity. Note this metric: global renewable electricity generation capacity, or in the parlance of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), new renewable energy capacity additions. This refers to all the new renewable power plants and installations built worldwide in 2024 and is a measure of both growth and new deployment.
This massive infrastructure deployment — nearly four times larger than its closest competitor — has established China not only as the world’s manufacturing hub for renewable technologies, but also as the primary driver of global cost reductions across the solar, wind, and battery storage sectors.
It is good to note that the majority of this growth is concentrated in specific highly industrial regions, but there seems to be no accounting for the small-scale home applications for solar and wind power. If seen from the perspective of global renewable energy additions (that is, projects that are completed and fully or partially operational), China may have more renewable, off-grid wind, solar, and even hydrological energy installations, especially in the upper regions of the country.
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If data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (PVPS) is to be used, at the end of 2022, China’s cumulative installed off-grid solar capacity was approximately 360 MW, representing a tiny fraction of China’s massive total solar capacity, which was nearly 393 GW at the time. However, based on the same data source, if the off-grid systems increased 22% annually as predicted, the number would be 640.5 MW by now. This is speculative because there isn’t data to back it up. And the figure seems small. However, there are clear policy directions increasingly focused on distributed solar, which includes both off-grid and small-scale grid-connected systems, particularly in rural areas.
The “Whole County PV” pilot program is a prime example of this strategy, aiming to install solar on rooftops of public buildings and homes. This has led to a significant increase in sales of smaller solar panels and components.
Then there is hydropower, geothermal, concentrated solar, and so on. All are aimed at cutting China’s dependence on fossil fuels, which ironically still powers the world’s largest EV market.
The scale of China’s renewable infrastructure creates a tier of leadership that remains unchallenged. However, the competition for secondary positions has intensified dramatically, with emerging economies demonstrating that rapid renewable deployment is achievable at scale.
United States unsteady in second
The United States holds a loose grip on second place with 388 GW of renewable capacity, accounting for 11% of global renewable electricity production. American renewable expansion has been bolstered significantly by the Inflation Reduction Act stimulus, which is projected to more than triple clean energy production by 2030.
The US solar sector demonstrated robust growth in 2024, with installed capacity expanding by 27.5% through the addition of 38,265 MW. This consistent expansion, combined with strong wind power development, positions the United States as a stable force in the global renewable energy market, though its growth rate remains modest compared to emerging economy competitors.
A combination of new and oftentimes unsteady federal policies under the Trump administration has led to market uncertainty, which has in turn led to a decline in investment and a slowdown in capacity additions. According to data from BloombergNEF, US investment in renewable energy declined by $20.5 billion in the first half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024. This represents a 36% drop whereas the rest of the world is growing at an average of 15.1%.
The future growth of renewables in the US appears to be increasingly dependent on the balance between federal policy decisions and the continued momentum of state-level initiatives and market-driven factors like the cost-competitiveness of renewables.
India’s explosive growth
I added this section on India not that it came in third, but also because it is perhaps the most compelling story in the global clean energy sector. With 203 GW of current renewable capacity representing 46.3% of the country’s total installed power generation, India has achieved what many analysts consider the most rapid large-scale energy transition in modern history.
The numbers illustrate India’s exceptional momentum: annual renewable capacity additions are increasing faster than in any other major economy, with recent growth rates reaching 35% year-over-year. In the first half of 2024, India captured more than half of all global competitive auction volumes alongside Germany, demonstrating the maturity and scale of its renewable energy market.
India’s solar sector exemplifies this rapid expansion, growing from 9.01 GW in 2016 to 97.86 GW by January 2025 — a ten-fold increase that outpaces all major economies. This growth trajectory positions India to potentially overtake Brazil in total renewable capacity and challenge the United States’ second-place ranking within the current decade.
European leadership in market innovation
Once, Europe established itself as a global frontrunner in renewable energy, a position it has secured through ambitious policy frameworks like the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan. Note that based on various research, China overtook Europe in the global renewable energy race via rapid developments, massive population requirements, and provincial incentives that allow for almost independent energy development.
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However, EU+EFTA+UK initiatives have been instrumental in driving consistent growth, with renewables generating nearly half of the EU’s net electricity in 2024. While the continent is committed to a diverse mix of clean energy sources, its long-term strategy heavily relies on offshore wind, a sector in which it has demonstrated decades of technological leadership. The North Sea, in particular, is seen as a strategic hub for this technology, with the EU setting a goal of 40 GW of ocean energy by 2050.
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However, Europe’s offshore wind sector is currently navigating significant challenges that have led to a slowdown in development and the cancellation of some key projects. A major contributing factor is the prevailing macroeconomic environment, with high inflation, rising interest rates, and soaring raw material costs pushing project expenses up by as much as 60%.
This economic pressure has made many projects financially unviable, causing developers to withdraw from auctions. Furthermore, the industry is grappling with pervasive regulatory and permitting delays, as complex bureaucratic processes can take years to resolve and introduce substantial financial risk. The sector also faces intensified global competition, particularly from Chinese manufacturers, and a reliance on vulnerable supply chains for critical components. These issues, combined with flawed auction designs that have incentivized unsustainably low bids, have created a difficult environment for offshore wind, highlighting the complexities of building a large-scale, capital-intensive renewable energy grid.
Japan’s place in renewable energy
Japan is making progress in renewable energy, but it remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Following the Fukushima disaster, Japan shifted away from nuclear power, which led to a massive increase in its reliance on imported fossil fuels to meet its energy needs. The country’s current energy strategy seeks to rebalance this mix by significantly increasing both renewables and nuclear energy.
In 2024, renewables supplied 26.7 percent of the country’s electricity, up from 25.7 percent in 2023. Solar accounted for 11.4 percent, hydropower 7.9 percent, and biomass 5.9 percent, while wind and geothermal contributed marginally. Including nuclear power, low-carbon sources made up roughly one-third of generation.
Clean electricity output reached about 322 terawatt-hours in 2024, and the first half of 2025 delivered 188 terawatt-hours, up 47 percent from 2019. Despite these gains, fossil fuels still provide nearly 70 percent of supply.
Government strategy calls for renewables to reach 36–38 percent by 2030 and 40–50 percent by 2040, with offshore wind identified as a critical growth area. Market opportunities remain strongest in solar, biomass, and offshore wind, as Japan positions itself to meet long-term emissions reduction targets while balancing energy security and cost.
This deserves a totally different story on it own soon.
ASEAN’s share
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is making notable strides in its renewable energy transition, driven by ambitious regional targets and a surge in clean energy investments. The region aims to have renewables account for 23% of its primary energy supply by 2025 under the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC).
This growth is most pronounced in countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, where strategic national policies and abundant resources have fueled a rapid expansion of solar, wind, and geothermal capacity. Despite this progress, ASEAN’s energy landscape remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with a significant portion of its electricity still generated from coal and natural gas.
However, the region faces considerable challenges that could hinder a more rapid and widespread transition. The uncoordinated deployment of new renewable energy projects has strained outdated grid infrastructure, leading to power curtailment and supply issues. Additionally, policy and regulatory frameworks across many member states are often inconsistent and can still favor fossil fuels, creating uncertainty for investors and deterring private capital. To overcome these hurdles, there is a growing consensus on the need for enhanced regional cooperation, particularly through the ASEAN Power Grid initiative, and increased investment in modern technologies like energy storage to ensure a more resilient and sustainable clean energy future.
Did we forget Australia & Africa?
Not at all. Due to the interest of deadline and incoming sources of information, Africa’s complete information is difficult to gather because it is a continent of 57 countries and of different levels of development.
Australia, on the other hand, is a single country continent whose electricity generation presents a mixed but rapidly evolving picture. Coal still accounts for 43–45% of electricity generation, while natural gas contributes 17% and oil just 2%. However, the renewable energy sector has achieved remarkable growth, with solar power now generating 20% of Australia’s electricity. Wind and other renewable sources contribute approximately 15%, bringing the total renewable share to around 35% of electricity generation.
Australia’s solar achievement is particularly striking. In October 2024, the country generated a record-breaking 25% of its electricity from solar power during peak generation periods. This represents an extraordinary shift from the turn of the millennium, when Australia derived more than 80% of its electricity from coal. Today, that figure has dropped to less than 50%, demonstrating the rapid pace of the energy transition. The country also operates without any nuclear power generation, making it unique among developed nations.
Global energy geopolitics
The competitive dynamics emerging from these renewable capacity rankings carry significant implications for global energy geopolitics. The developing nations are still challenged with traditional assumptions about energy leadership being primarily the domain of developed economies or resource-rich nations.
The data suggests a fundamental shift in how countries achieve energy security and international influence. Rather than relying on fossil fuel exports or imports, nations are increasingly competing on their ability to deploy clean energy infrastructure rapidly and cost-effectively.
Current trends indicate the global renewable energy hierarchy will continue evolving rapidly. While China’s leadership appears secure for the foreseeable future, the competition for secondary positions remains dynamic. India’s growth trajectory suggests potential to reach 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, which would significantly narrow the gap with current leaders.
This competitive transformation demonstrates that the global renewable energy sector rewards rapid deployment, technological adoption, and policy innovation more than traditional energy market advantages. As India continues its exceptional expansion, the renewable energy leadership rankings are likely to experience continued disruption, with emerging economies increasingly challenging established energy powers on the foundation of clean technology deployment speed and scale.