IEA Says World Has Entered The “Age Of Electricity”
Fatih Birol. Credit: IEA
April 23, 20261 hour ago
Steve Hanley
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The International Energy Agency global report for 2025 was released on April 20, 2026. It said,
“Solar PV was the single largest contributor to growth in global energy supply in 2025, accounting for more than 25 percent of the increase — the first time on record that a modern renewable source has led global primary energy supply growth.
“Natural gas took the next largest share, at 17 percent, reflecting its role in power generation in many countries. Overall, renewable sources and nuclear met nearly 60 percent of all growth in energy demand….. Power generation from these sources exceeded total growth in electricity demand.”
IEA executive director Fatih Birol said, “Global energy demand continued to increase in 2025 against a complex economic and geopolitical backdrop, with one trend unmistakeable: the expanding electrification of economies.”
“Electricity consumption is growing much faster than overall energy demand — and one energy source is growing much faster than any other.
“Solar PV accounted for over a quarter of all of the world’s energy demand growth — more than any other source, for the first time — followed right after by natural gas. In today’s rapidly shifting landscape, countries that prioritize resilience and diversification will be best placed to manage volatility and deliver secure and affordable energy in the years ahead.”
The IEA report continued,
“In the electricity sector, the additional 600 terawatt-hours of solar PV generation worldwide in 2025 marked the largest structural increase ever recorded in a single year for any electricity generation technology, contributing to a decline in coal-fired electricity generation globally.
“Battery storage was the fastest growing power sector technology in 2025. The roughly 110 gigawatts of new battery storage capacity added during the year exceeded the largest ever annual capacity additions for natural gas. Meanwhile over 12 gigawatts of nuclear power reactors began construction in 2025, amid renewed momentum for nuclear projects in several regions.”
For readers who like to dig into the data, here is a link to the 2025 data in graphic format.
Solar Leads The Way
According to ArsTechnica, the increase in renewables last year was primarily due to an enormous rise in solar power. “In other words, as electrification increases, we’re at the point where we are capable of meeting the additional demand without boosting carbon emissions. These sources covered nearly 60 percent of the overall growth in demand for energy of all types,” Ars said.
That growth in solar is coupled with a sharp increase in large scale energy storage batteries. BESS installations rose 40 percent over 2024, reaching 110 GW of new capacity last year. “That is more than the highest one year addition of natural gas capacity and leaves our total installed capacity at over 10 times what it was just five years ago. Batteries, when combined with cheap solar, can limit the need for fossil fuel-powered backups,” Ars reported.
The IEA estimates that renewable energy installed since 2019, together with “green” technologies such as EVs and heat pumps and nuclear power, have displaced about 7 percent of total fossil fuel use in 2025. They also reduced carbon emissions by 8% compared to what they would have been otherwise. The agency also estimates all those advances have displaced enough coal to equal all of India’s coal use in 2025.
The folks at Ember this week published their own global energy report that supports the IEA findings. It said:
“The global energy system is under increasing strain. Recent years, and indeed recent months, have highlighted the inherent vulnerabilities of a system built around fossil fuels — exposure to price volatility, geopolitical risk and supply disruption. These pressures are not temporary; they reflect structural characteristics of how the system operates today.
“This year’s Global Electricity Review shows that an alternative is not only emerging but scaling quickly, with clean power meeting all growth in global electricity demand.
“Solar has become the leading source of new generation, supported by battery storage that is beginning to provide system flexibility at scale. In major economies including China and India, fossil generation declined last year even as demand continued to grow.
“These developments point to a shift in the underlying dynamics of the power system: clean electricity is increasingly meeting demand growth. This transition remains uneven and incomplete. Fossil fuels continue to play a significant role, and progress varies across regions. But the direction of travel is becoming clearer, and the technologies driving change are scaling rapidly.”
Ember said the build-out of solar power is taking place alongside rapid battery storage deployment. All those batteries together are making the next paradigm shift possible — from daytime solar to anytime solar [emphasis added].
“Battery costs fell sharply for the second consecutive year. In 2024, battery costs dropped 20%. In 2025, they fell a further 45%, while deployment grew 46% to an estimated 250 GWh. As a result, the world installed enough battery capacity to shift 14 percent of the new solar generation in 2025 from midday to other hours of the day.”
Energy Security
The Ember report stresses that the “world is entering an era of clean growth and exiting the era of fossil growth in the power sector. Abundant clean electricity is enabling the electrification of other sectors such as transport, reducing fossil fuel dependence across the economy.”
“This structural shift is happening at a key juncture in the global energy system as the world reels from two major fossil shocks in just four years. First, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and more recently, the US-Israel war with Iran, have laid bare the vulnerability of a global energy system dependent on volatile fossil fuel markets.”
The lesson for those countries focusing on energy security is that fossil fuels are an unreliable source of energy.
“For emerging and mature economies alike, this moment makes the case for anchoring economic growth on a secure, domestic energy base.
“Those scaling clean power the fastest will be best placed to reduce fossil fuel dependence in the short term and support economic growth in the long term. With solar, wind and battery storage now cost-competitive, multiple technological developments have converged at scale to fundamentally transform the global energy system and offer a permanent route to energy security,” Ember said.
Energy & Politics
The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could go on for months or even years, putting supplies of oil and LNG at risk for millions of people. The solution is the fusion reactor 93 million miles away that we call the sun. It provides enough energy to the Earth every day to meet the needs of all humanity for a year. All we have to do is harvest it.
If the concern is energy security, locally produced electricity from solar and wind resources are the answer. People are beginning to realize they can make their own electricity and break their dependence on investor owned utility companies and the constant ratcheting upwards of the cost of fuel to run thermal generating stations.
Forget emissions and global heating. The fossil fuel crazies have succeeded at making those quaint notions toxic. We have the power to be energy independent in our hands. All we have to do is use it.
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