Global clean power surges as PHL joins emerging leaders but…

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said the worldwide pipeline of wind and utility-scale solar projects hit a record 4.9 terawatts (TW) in 2025, but warned that the world’s wealthiest economies are no longer driving the clean energy buildout.

GEM said announced, pre-construction and under-construction wind and utility-scale solar capacity grew 11% year-over-year, from 4.4 TW to more than 4.9 TW, as emerging and developing economies – led by China and India – accounted for most projects now underway.

Utility-scale solar led the expansion, with the global utility-scale solar pipeline growing 17% and passing 2.2 TW, while the wind pipeline grew 7%, GEM reported.

Within the 4.9 TW pipeline, wind and utility-scale solar account for comparable portions at 2.7 TW and 2.2 TW, respectively, the briefing said.

The Philippines has emerged as a top global leader with 146 gigawatts (GW) of prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity.

The GEM briefing, dated February 2026, listed Diren Kocakuşak and Mengqi Zhang as authors, with additional contributors and reviewers Janna Smith, Kasandra O’Malia and Jessie Cato, and editing support from Stefani Cox and David Hoffman.

GEM said 758 gigawatts (GW) of wind and utility-scale solar projects are currently under construction worldwide, with three-quarters concentrated in China and India.

China alone hosts more than half of the under-construction wind and utility-scale solar projects, totaling 448 GW, while India follows with 125 GW under construction as it advances toward a 2030 target of 500 GW non-fossil capacity.

Despite the global surge, GEM said G7 countries account for only 11% of the world’s prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity, even though they control roughly half of global wealth.

The combined G7 pipeline has remained largely unchanged at about 520 GW since 2023, which GEM described as a widening gap between climate ambition and implementation in advanced economies.

The report said the clean energy “center of gravity” has shifted toward emerging and developing economies, with China accounting for more than 1.5 TW of prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity – roughly matching the combined total of Brazil (401 GW), Australia (368 GW), India (234 GW), the United States (226 GW), Spain (165 GW) and the Philippines (146 GW).

GEM’s press release similarly listed Brazil (401 GW), India (234 GW) and the Philippines (146 GW) among the top seven countries with prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity.

China also crossed what GEM called a historic threshold in 2025, with combined operating wind, utility-scale solar and distributed solar capacity surpassing 1.6 TW – triple the combined capacity of its closest peers, the United States and India.

GEM said China’s operating total includes 489 GW of distributed solar, while the United States has surpassed 368 GW of operating wind and solar capacity and India has more than 163 GW in operation.

In 2025, the United States added 4.9 GW of wind, 25.6 GW of utility-scale solar and 5.5 GW of distributed solar, the briefing said.

Pipeline growth slows, especially for wind

GEM flagged slowing momentum in new project planning, saying year-on-year growth in the wind and utility-scale solar pipeline slowed from 22% in 2024 to 11% in 2025.

The trend was more pronounced for wind projects, with a 13% drop from 2024 compared with a 7% drop for solar projects, and GEM said wind developers in 2025 faced political barriers and “a streak of failed wind power auctions.”

That slowdown matters because wind typically has a higher capacity factor than solar, meaning a decline in planned wind development could have an outsized impact on future power generation, GEM said.

The pipeline’s trajectory is central to meeting the COP28 commitment to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, because wind and solar are expected to comprise 94% of renewable additions toward that goal, GEM said.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates the world needs average annual additions of 317 GW of wind capacity and 735 GW of solar capacity by 2030, and GEM said utility-scale solar additions must reach 2.2 TW over the next five years if this segment accounts for 58% of all solar installations.

Even if every wind and utility-scale solar project with a planned start year by 2030 came online, GEM said the tripling goal would still be short by 1 TW of wind and 1.6 TW of utility-scale solar.

GEM also cited its previous analysis showing almost 40% of all planned projects are late, shelved or cancelled, and warned that political barriers and implementation disincentives could delay projects with unknown commissioning dates that might otherwise help close the gap.

The slowdown observed in GEM’s data broadly aligns with projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and BloombergNEF indicating wind and utility-scale solar growth could plateau through 2030.

 

Wealthy nations risk losing leadership

GEM research analyst Diren Kocakuşak noted that countries once viewed as energy followers are now driving global momentum.

“Wind and solar are scaling at breakneck speed, and much of that momentum is coming from countries once seen as energy followers. The question now is whether wealthier countries will close the gap between ambition and execution, or cede leadership in this booming growth sector,” Kocakuşak said.

GEM also highlighted the growing role of distributed solar, which it described as “a pillar of the clean energy transition,” even as deployment remains heavily concentrated in a small number of countries.

The Global Solar Power Tracker now reports nearly 900 GW of operating distributed solar capacity across 31 countries or areas, with the top 10 countries representing 90% of the reported total, GEM said.

China contributes roughly 489 GW of distributed solar – more than seven times Germany’s 69 GW – while several G7 countries including Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan and France are among the largest reported totals.

The International Energy Agency estimates approximately 42% of all existing and prospective solar capacity is distributed, and GEM said progress toward 2030 targets cannot be assessed from utility-scale solar projects alone.

In some G7 countries, distributed systems already represent a larger share of all operating solar at around 57% in France, 68% in Germany and 86% in Italy, GEM reported.

GEM said operating distributed solar expanded more than threefold between 2020 and 2024, a rise it partly linked to the growing residential segment and the increasing comparative advantage of small-scale systems in offsetting electricity costs in Europe and the United States.

Outside the top countries, GEM said Europe has a “broad mid-tier” of multi-GW nations, while reported totals across Latin America, Asia and Africa are more dispersed and generally smaller, leaving “substantial room for expansion.”

Taiwan and South Africa stand out as the largest reported distributed solar totals in their regions, supported by policy incentives such as feed-in tariffs and frameworks for small-scale generation, GEM reported.

GEM added that distributed solar can enhance health, education and working conditions by providing reliable access to electricity in least developed countries.

To support distributed solar and limit solar curtailment, wealthy nations would need to invest in grids and storage, GEM said, arguing that accelerating wind and solar deployment – including distributed solar – is essential with only five years remaining to meet the COP28 tripling goals.