Renewables Bulletin: BRICS Edition

The BRICS bloc generated over half of the world's electricity in 2024, with China dominating renewable energy production. While solar and wind capacity have grown exponentially in China, India, and Brazil since 2015, progress has stalled in Russia and South Africa. Hydropower's share of BRICS renewable generation fell from 82% in 2015 to 45% in 2023 as solar and wind expanded. China leads the bloc in total renewable energy jobs, though Brazil has the highest proportion of such jobs relative to its population.

• In 2024, BRICS nations generated 15,909 terrawatt hours (TWh), which is more than half of the world's total electricity and over double the combined generation of the US (4,387 TWh) and EU (2,744 TWh).
• China is the primary driver of renewable electricity in the bloc, producing nearly 70% of BRICS renewable electricity in 2024. China's renewable generation (3,388 TWh) exceeds the combined totals of the US (1,057 TWh) and EU (1,302 TWh).
• Solar PV capacity has seen massive growth in the largest BRICS economies between 2015 and 2023: China's capacity rose from 43 GW to 610 GW (over 1,300% increase), India's grew from 18 GW to nearly 73 GW, and Brazil's increased from 0.05 GW to approximately 38 GW.
• The composition of renewable generation in BRICS shifted significantly between 2015 and 2023; hydropower's share dropped from nearly 82% to 45%, while solar PV generation grew from 49 TWh to 792 TWh and wind generation grew from 245 TWh to 1,089 TWh.
• Renewable energy employment is concentrated in China, where total RE jobs exceed those of all other BRICS countries combined and solar PV jobs account for over 60% of its RE workforce. Brazil leads the bloc in RE jobs as a proportion of its population due to its labor-intensive hydropower sector.

APA

Team, Z. (2025). Renewables Bulletin: BRICS Edition. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/renewables-bulletin-brics-edition/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. Renewables Bulletin: BRICS Edition. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2025. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/renewables-bulletin-brics-edition/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=Renewables Bulletin: BRICS Edition |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=1 July 2025 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/renewables-bulletin-brics-edition/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2025renewables, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{Renewables Bulletin: BRICS Edition}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/renewables-bulletin-brics-edition/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }