Solar BRICS: Emerging economies now lead the world's clean energy race

A report by Ember detailing the increasing dominance of BRICS nations in global solar power generation, highlighting that these countries accounted for over half of the world's solar electricity in 2024, led primarily by China, India, and Brazil.

• In 2024, the ten BRICS members collectively generated 51% of the world's solar electricity, a significant increase from 15% in 2014. China was the primary driver, accounting for 39% of global solar generation in 2024, followed by India at 6.3% and Brazil at 3.5%.
• Three BRICS nations are among the top five global solar power generators as of 2024. China led with 834 TWh, nearly three times the 303 TWh generated by the United States. India ranked third with 133 TWh, and Brazil entered the top five with 75 TWh, surpassing Germany's 71 TWh.
• Solar power generation continued to grow strongly in early 2025 for China, India, and Brazil, with a combined 39% increase across the original five BRICS members between January and April 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. China added 98 TWh (a 42% rise), Brazil grew by 35% (+7.9 TWh), and India grew by 32% (+14.1 TWh). In contrast, South Africa's growth slowed to 3%, and Russia's generation remained below 0.5 TWh.
• Clean energy sources, led by solar, are increasingly meeting the growth in electricity demand across BRICS nations. In 2024, solar met 37% of the increase in electricity generation for all BRICS members, and all clean sources combined met 70% of that increase. In China specifically, solar met 41% of the generation increase in 2024, with all clean sources accounting for 82%.
• In China, solar growth is contributing to a decline in fossil fuel generation. Between January and May 2025, solar generation increased by 120 TWh, meeting 86% of the 139 TWh increase in demand, which contributed to a 64 TWh (2.6%) decrease in fossil generation compared to the same period in 2024.

APA

Fulghum, N., Bruce-Lockhart, C., & Orso, L. (2025). Solar BRICS: Emerging economies now lead the world's clean energy race. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/BRICS-now-account-for-more-than-half-of-global-solar-power.pdf

Chicago

Fulghum, Nicolas, Chelsea Bruce-Lockhart, and Lauren Orso. Solar BRICS: Emerging economies now lead the world's clean energy race. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/BRICS-now-account-for-more-than-half-of-global-solar-power.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fulghum |first1=Nicolas |last2=Bruce-Lockhart |first2=Chelsea |last3=Orso |first3=Lauren |title=Solar BRICS: Emerging economies now lead the world's clean energy race |publisher=Ember |date=3 July 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/BRICS-now-account-for-more-than-half-of-global-solar-power.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fulghum2025solar, author = {Fulghum, Nicolas and Bruce-Lockhart, Chelsea and Orso, Lauren}, title = {{Solar BRICS: Emerging economies now lead the world's clean energy race}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/BRICS-now-account-for-more-than-half-of-global-solar-power.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }