Solar power tops $3.3 trillion energy investment boom

Global energy investments are expected to increase to a record  $3.3 trillion, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Despite geopolitical and economic challenges, funding remains strong as clean energy technology attracts double the money as fossil fuels. 

The agency highlights how clean technologies – including renewables, nuclear, grids, and storage – are on track to reach $2.2 trillion in funding this year. Overall, solar is forecasted to reach $450 billion in investment this year. In its World Energy Investment report, the IEA highlights how these developments indicate a more sustained effort to reduce emissions, reflecting the growing influence of industrial policy. 

The global picture of energy investments 

The post-pandemic recovery packages have sparked a surge in clean energy investments, driven by several factors, including economic, industrial, and energy security considerations. Europe’s post-COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund and the RePowerEU plan following the Russian invasion of Ukraine are in line with this trend. The two graphs below provide a detailed overview of the changes that have occurred over the past decade.

China is, once again, the world’s single largest investor in energy. In the past few years, Beijing has made massive investments in energy to reduce its reliance on gas and oil imports, while exerting its leadership in solar and storage technologies. In total, in 2025, it will spend $884 billion. 

At the same time, nuclear investments rose by 50% in the past five years. The IEA reports that spending on the construction and refurbishment of nuclear plants will pass the $70 billion mark in 2025. 

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A zoom into Europe 

In 2025, clean energy investments in the EU are set to reach $390 billion. Over the past decade, the bloc has shifted its focus toward clean energy investments – in 2024, half of its electricity came from renewable sources.

The 2022 invasion significantly reduced Russian gas exports to the EU, causing a supply crisis and pushing prices to unprecedented levels. In response, EU countries increased support for renewables and energy efficiency and diversified their gas supplies, notably by boosting LNG imports from the United States. These measures helped stabilize prices, although they remain higher than pre-crisis levels.

The European Union also faces the challenge of deeper market integration. Despite significant investments in low-emission technologies, average energy prices in Europe remain higher than in other major economies. The EU energy market has seen significant disparities in spot prices among member states. As EU market prices rose in 2024, Spain experienced near-zero and even negative spot prices, leading to the curtailment of renewable energy sources. 

These fluctuations are largely due to the rapid expansion of renewable energy without corresponding upgrades in storage and grid infrastructure. In April 2024, 11% of variable renewable output was curtailed in Ireland due to insufficient capacity to transport or store electricity when demand was low. Volatility in electricity prices highlights the need for a more integrated energy system and substantial investment in grid infrastructure and storage.

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The age of electricity is drawing closer

Being the tenth edition of the report, the IEA also examines some of the most significant developments of the last decade. 

“When the IEA published the first ever edition of its World Energy Investment report nearly ten years ago, it showed energy investment in China in 2015 just edging ahead of that of the United States,” said the IEA executive director, Faith Birol. “Today, China is by far the largest energy investor globally, spending twice as much on energy as the European Union – and almost as much as the EU and United States combined.”

The figures published by the organization show how the world is getting closer to an age of electricity. If, a decade ago, the investment in fossil fuels was 30% higher than that in electricity generation. Now the tables have turned, with capital in electricity generation, storage, and grids expected to be 50% more than that in oil, coal, and natural gas. 

However, the IEA warns that the scale of investment in grids, which has now reached $400 billion per year, is far from matching the levels of funding for generation and electrification. To address electricity security concerns, the organization emphasizes that grid investments should be on par with those for generation by the early 2030s. To this end, the lengthy permitting procedures and tight supply chains for components such as cables and transformers are curbing developments.