Solar’s Surge Wiped Out the Energy Equivalent of the World’s Most Critical Fossil Fuel Chokepoint in One Year
Published · Updated · 3 min read
The scale of solar’s growth is rewriting the rules of global energy
Global solar power generation grew by a record 636 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025. That single year of growth exceeded the total electricity that could be generated from all liquefied natural gas flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical fossil fuel chokepoint.
This is not a gradual energy transition. It is a rapid economic takeover driven by one simple fact: solar is now the cheapest way to generate electricity almost anywhere on Earth.
Solar Grew 18 Times Faster Than Gas
In 2025, solar capacity additions reached a record 647 gigawatts (GW), the equivalent of more than one gigawatt every single day of the year.
By comparison, natural gas generation grew by just 36 TWh. Coal fell by 63 TWh. Solar grew roughly 18 times faster than gas, according to data from energy think tank Ember’s official report on global electricity data.
Wind and solar together met 99 percent of all global electricity demand growth in 2025. Fossil fuel generation actually fell by 0.2 percent, the first time in history that decline was caused by structural clean energy growth rather than an economic crisis.
China Added More Solar in One Year Than the Whole World Had Ever Built
China installed 329 GW of solar capacity in 2024 alone, reaching more than 880 GW of utility-scale solar by year-end. That figure represents more than twice the total solar capacity of the entire United States at the same time.
In a single year, China added more solar than the entire world had installed through the end of 2023. The country has more than 720 GW of additional solar capacity currently under development or in planning.
India followed with a 145 percent surge in solar deployment in 2024, adding 30.7 GW, up from just 12.5 GW the previous year. 83 percent of India’s power sector investment went to clean energy that year, pushing coal and gas use down by 3.1 percent and 34 percent respectively, even as overall electricity demand grew.
Renewables Beat Coal for the First Time Since 1919
For the first time since records began, renewable energy globally generated more electricity than coal in 2025.
Renewables produced 10,730 TWh, covering nearly 34 percent of total global electricity supply. Coal fell to 33 percent, losing its position as the world’s dominant electricity source for the first time in over a century.
In the European Union, wind and solar hit 30 percent of electricity generation, surpassing fossil fuels on an annual basis for the first time. In the United States, March 2025 marked the first month ever where fossil fuels accounted for less than 50 percent of electricity generated.
The Economics Are the Story
Solar power now costs a global average of $0.043 per kilowatt-hour, making it 41 percent cheaper than the least costly new fossil fuel plants, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
91 percent of all renewable power projects commissioned globally in 2024 were more cost-effective than any new fossil fuel alternative.
Battery storage, which addresses solar’s intermittency, fell 27 percent in cost in 2025 to just $78 per megawatt-hour for a four-hour system, a record low. Storage capacity additions rose 46 percent year-on-year to 247 GWh.
$2 trillion was invested in clean energy globally in 2024, outpacing fossil fuel investment by $800 billion.
The Whale Oil Moment
Energy analysts are drawing a direct historical comparison. In the 19th century, whale oil dominated the lighting market until kerosene made it economically obsolete. The transition took decades. The solar transition is compressing that same displacement into single years.
Fossil fuel stocks returned just 5.72 percent in 2024, compared to 25.02 percent for the broader S&P 500. The sector has underperformed the index in seven of the last ten years.
The International Energy Agency projects fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 under current government policies. Solar capacity is on track to reach 7 terawatts globally by 2030, covering roughly 65 percent of the renewable energy needed to meet global targets.
Those numbers point in one direction. The economics have already decided the outcome.
References
- Ember Global Electricity Review 2025
- IRENA Renewable Power Generation Costs 2024
- Assaad Razzouk on X, Solar Surge Analysis
