Global growth in clean energy capacity is expected to slow in 2026 for the first time in five years, as inadequate electricity transmission networks and trade barriers hamper the expansion of renewable energy, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Director-General Francesco La Camera has warned.
Solar and wind power capacity has expanded annually since 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains. In 2025, global renewable energy installations, including hydropower, increased by a record 692 gigawatts, or 15.5 percent, reaching 5,149 gigawatts and accounting for half of the world’s total installed power capacity.
Governments have pledged to accelerate the adoption of clean energy to strengthen energy security and reduce costs, particularly following the US-Israeli war on Iran, which disrupted energy supplies and drove prices higher.
However, La Camera said renewable energy deployment was slowing in China as electricity grids increasingly reached their capacity limits, forcing authorities to curtail or reject clean power generation.
“The main reason for not setting a new record in additions this year is the mismatch between generation capacity and the ability to distribute and transmit electricity,” La Camera told Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week conference.
China, the world’s largest renewable energy market, curtailed enough clean electricity in the first half of 2026 to supply Mexico with power for an entire year. Electricity grids in other countries, including Australia and Japan, have also struggled to keep pace with the rapid expansion of renewable energy projects.
“I don’t think the size of the increase (in production capacity) in other parts of the world this year will offset the slowdown in China,” La Camera said. He declined to provide numerical forecasts for renewable energy capacity additions in 2026.
Expanding renewable energy capacity remains critical to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. A United Nations report released last week warned that “urgent and rigorous” emissions reductions are necessary to slow the pace of global warming.