In 2025, the BRICS nations witnessed a remarkable year in energy capacity expansions, setting unprecedented records in both renewable and fossil fuel sectors. This dual advancement continues to highlight a significant split in the global energy transition.
According to Global Energy Monitor’s (GEM) Global Integrated Power Tracker, the BRICS bloc experienced record-breaking additions in their four major power sources: solar, wind, coal, and oil and gas. These developments reached new heights all within the same year.
Surge in Renewable Energy
The year 2025 saw solar and wind energy additions reaching an all-time high of 497 gigawatts (GW), driven largely by China and India. Despite this impressive growth in clean energy, the expansion remains concentrated in these two countries.
Meanwhile, fossil fuel power capacity also increased among the ten-member group, adding 125 GW of coal, oil, and gas capacity. Even with the highest retirement volumes in five years, the net annual increase in fossil capacity was 115 GW, marking the largest recorded net increase and exceeding the previous peak in 2015 by 11%.
Key Observations
- The pipeline surge: The BRICS’ utility-scale solar and wind project pipeline expanded by around 25% in 2025, reaching 2,317 GW. This clean energy pipeline is now 2.5 times larger than the bloc’s 927 GW fossil pipeline, which itself saw a 12% growth.
- China’s dominance: China was a major contributor, installing a record 315 GW of solar and 119 GW of wind. Simultaneously, it added 78 GW of new coal plants, the largest increase in over a decade, responsible for 84% of all new BRICS coal capacity.
- Renewables erode generation, not capacity: The increase in solar and wind output contributed to a decline in coal-fired power generation in China and India, with decreases of nearly 2% and approximately 3% year-on-year, respectively. This indicates a growing coal overcapacity and reduced plant utilization rates.
- An uneven landscape: While South Africa and Brazil are expanding solar networks to curb fossil fuel growth, countries like Indonesia, Russia, and Iran continue to focus on fossil-fuel-heavy power sector development, with less emphasis on wind and solar.
James Norman, Project Manager for the Global Integrated Power Tracker, stated, “The BRICS bloc is operating under an increasingly contradictory energy pattern. Clean energy pipelines are scaling up at twice the speed of fossil fuels, and renewables are successfully meeting incremental electricity demand to push down growth in coal generation. Yet, legacy approvals and entrenched domestic buildouts mean coal capacity is expanding even as its utilization falls.”
India’s upcoming BRICS presidency in 2026 will highlight whether the group can leverage the surge in renewable energy to decrease reliance on fossil fuels. Key Indian states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan are already experiencing reductions in coal generation due to rapid renewable expansion. However, fossil-fuel-heavy power development persists in other parts of India, and the nation’s updated climate pledge has faced criticism for not fully acknowledging the progress evident in certain regions.
BRICS, initially formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, expanded to include South Africa by 2011. The group further grew in 2024 with the addition of Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and in January 2025, Indonesia joined. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join and is mentioned in some BRICS presidency documents, although its official status remains uncertain.
Original Story at globalenergymonitor.org