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ALT Four bar charts from Global Energy Monitor showing BRICS power capacity additions and retirements from 2000 to 2025 across four sources: Coal, Oil and gas, Solar, and Wind. In 2025, capacity additions reached historic highs. Solar experienced massive, exponential growth, peaking at around 370 GW added in 2025. Wind also surged dramatically to a record high of approximately 130 GW. Meanwhile, fossil fuels also saw notable increases in 2025, with coal additions spiking back up to nearly 90 GW and oil/gas additions hitting a peak of over 30 GW, accompanied by minor retirements.
ALT A graphic by GEM featuring text on a dark teal gridded background next to an image of a coal power plant with a wind turbine in the foreground. The text reads: "In 2025, the world built more coal power capacity but used it less. Booming wind & solar are pushing coal into a backup role as system insurance."
ALT Coal-fired power capacity that began operation each year from 2000 to 2025, GW. Source: Global Energy Monitor.
ALT A graphic by GEM featuring text on a dark teal gridded background next to an image of a coal power plant with a wind turbine in the foreground. The text reads: "In 2025, the world built more coal power capacity but used it less. Booming wind & solar are pushing coal into a backup role as system insurance."
ALT An orange graphic featuring an image of charcoal pieces on the right. Large white text on the left reads: "78.1 GW of new coal power capacity was commissioned by China in 2025 — a decade-high total — yet its actual coal-fired electricity generation still declined by 1.2%."
ALT A quote graphic featuring a headshot of Christine Shearer, Project Manager, Global Coal Plant Tracker. The quote reads: "The central challenge heading into 2026 is not the availability of alternatives, but the persistence of policies that treat coal as necessary even as power systems move increasingly beyond it."