Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 29/04/2026 at 18:38

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In 2025, something that seemed distant became a reality: solar and wind energy combined reached 4,174 gigawatts of installed capacity worldwide — surpassing coal in global electricity generation for the first time in a century. The 4000 GW solar and wind milestone is not just a symbolic number. It is confirmation that the energy transition has ceased to be a promise and has become the dominant movement in global electrical infrastructure. And Brazil is at the center of this revolution — with the second largest portfolio of renewable projects on the planet, behind only China.

The data was compiled by the energy analysis organization Ember and confirmed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in April 2026. In 2025, the world added 814 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity — a historic record representing six times more than all other combined energy sources installed in the same period. To put it in perspective: 814 GW is more than Brazil’s entire installed electrical capacity.

The historic shift was not just in capacity. In actual electricity generation, renewables accounted for 33.8% of global production in 2025 — surpassing coal (33.0%) for the first time in approximately 100 years. An era that began with the Industrial Revolution has come to an end.

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What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

The speed of growth would have been impossible to predict two decades ago. In 2015, the world had about 840 GW of combined solar and wind capacity. In 2025, that number reached 4,174 GW — an almost 5-fold increase in ten years. The compound annual growth rate for solar energy during this period was about 15%

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Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

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Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

Mother and daughter build a 70 m² house with more than 8,000 discarded glass bottles and impress with their creativity; known as the Casa de Sal, the property is located on Itamaracá Island, in Pernambuco.

Workers were opening a new road connection near the Marginal Tietê when they found, in the underground of the construction site, remnants of locomotives, wagons, and boilers from the 19th century linked to the forgotten history of Lapa.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

China has deployed snake-shaped robots to slide along power lines, where they have already inspected over 130 kilometers of cables using cameras and sensors to detect damaged wires, worn-out parts, and overheating.

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

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