2026-10-03 · percent of installed electricity capacity

Solar is growing fast — still beside coal on the grid

Capacity additions ≠ overnight share of electrons.

Producing energy drives roughly three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions, and coal is the most polluting source on the grid. Yet in the 2026 capacity mix, coal still holds 32% of installed electricity capacity worldwide — double solar PV's 16%. Solar is growing fast, but new additions don't reshape the existing stock overnight.

1 cell = 0.1 percent of installed electricity capacity (0.1% of global capacity) · 1,000 cells

Context

This grid measures installed capacity, not the share of electrons generated in a year. Solar capacity is being added at a rapid pace, but the existing stock — coal plants, gas turbines, hydro dams — keeps generating alongside it.

Gas, hydro, wind, nuclear, and other sources make up the remaining 52% of installed capacity in the Ember/IEA data. Hydro and nuclear have long supplied most low-carbon energy, while wind and solar are the sources growing quickly.

The wider energy system still leans fossil: only about one-seventh of global primary energy comes from low-carbon sources, and fossil fuel use keeps rising each year. Burning fossil fuels and biomass also feeds air pollution linked to at least five million deaths annually.

Ember / IEA capacity mix, rounded.