Observatory-K

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

    IRENA

  • 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

    IRENA

  • Geothermal0.3 GWNET

    IRENA

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