Clean energy continues to show signs of growth. In 2024, globally, production from all low-carbon electricity sources exceeded 40%. Renewables reported a milestone of 858 TWh of production in 2024, up 49% from the previous record of 577 TWh set in 2022. This has been established by Ember data.
The growth of renewables resulted in a 40.9% (12,609 TWh) share of low-emission electricity in 2024. This compares with 39.4% in 2023. Solar electricity production doubled in the last three years, reaching more than 2,000 TWh. Higher temperature stages in urban centers increased cooling demand in 2024 compared to 2023.
A scenario that added 0.7% (+208TWh) to global electricity demand, generating a much larger total demand increase (+4%) than 2023 (+2.6%) by comparison. There is a clear shift in the progress of clean electricity production and the adoption of flexible technologies, such as battery storage.
The largest source of clean energy continues to grow
After knowing which energy will push over the seas, the place of the largest source of clean energy has come to light: hydropower. Its global production grew by 10% in 2024 with pumped storage as its leader.
The World Hydropower Outlook 2025 report, released by the International Hydropower Association (IHA), exposed the powerful global momentum of hydropower. A phenomenon led by a significant increase in pumped storage hydropower (PSH). This has long been considered the “water battery” of the power sector.
Hydropower remains the largest source of renewable electricity on Earth. It supplies 14.3% of the world’s energy. In addition, it is part of the electricity system of more than 150 countries, making it more flexible. Last year, it added a total of 24.6 GW of new hydropower capacity globally.
Likewise, hydropower production rose by 10% to 4578 TWh in 2024. It recovered steadily from the lows it faced due to the previous year’s drought.
Crucial facts about the Earth’s largest source of clean energy: hydroelectric power
In the global capacity aggregates, 8.4 GW of PSH were added. This represents an increase of 5% in global PSH capacity to 189 GW, thus continuing an upward trend. Annual PSH additions nearly doubled in the last two years, raising the five-year average to 6 GW per year, up from 2-4 GW over the past twenty years.
At the end of last year, the global hydropower deployment pipeline surpassed 1075 GW (up about 8%), comprising some 600 GW of PSH and 475 GW of conventional projects. China was at the forefront of new developments, adding 14.4 GW of hydropower capacity last year. More than half of that capacity was allocated to pumped storage.
This trait puts it on the right roadmap to exceed its target of 120 GW of PSH by 2030. In fact, China is the world’s leading country in installed hydropower capacity.
China captures the most important clean energy in the world
The 28th Congress of the International Commission on Large Dams, held in the city of Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, reported on China’s position in the clean energy sector. The Asian country’s reservoirs and dams are in first place globally in terms of number and installed power capacity.
In this regard, the National Energy Administration provided precise data on China. It stated that it had built more than 94,000 dams by December 2024. This is the highest number in global terms.
On the other hand, the total installed capacity of hydropower had registered 436 million kilowatts, incorporating 377 million kilowatts of traditional hydropower. The planet’s largest source of clean energy is growing unstoppably, especially in China. In parallel, Argentina has a perfect plan to flood the world with energy.