The leading countries for installed renewable energy in 2024 were China, the United States, and Brazil. China was the leader in renewable energy installations, with a capacity of around 1,827 gigawatts. The U.S., in second place, had a capacity of around 428 gigawatts. Renewable energy is an important step in addressing climate change and mitigating the consequences of this phenomenon. Renewable energy capacity and productionRenewable power capacity is defined as the maximum generating capacity of installations that use renewable sources to generate electricity. The share of renewable energy in the world’s power production has increased in recent years, surpassing 30 percent in 2023. Renewable energy consumption varies from country to country. The leading countries for renewable energy consumption are China, the United States, and Canada.Renewable energy sourcesThere are various sources of renewable energy used globally, including bioenergy, solar energy, hydropower, and wind energy, to name a few. Globally, China and Brazil are the top two countries in terms of generating the most energy through hydropower. Regarding solar power, China, the United States, and Japan boast the highest installed capacities worldwide.

In 2024, renewable energy consumption in China reached *****exajoules, more than any other country in the world. Renewable sources such as geothermal, wind, solar, biomass, and waste were included in this measurement, while cross-border electricity trade was not taken into account. Hydropower in China China is by far the leading consumer of hydropower, with over ***** times the consumption of other leading countries such as Canada and Brazil. Several of the world’s hydroelectric dams with the highest generating capacity are located in China, many of which were constructed in the past two decades. The **************** on the Yangtze River was completed in 2012 to become the largest in the world. Energy consumption in the United States After China, the United States was the second-highest consumer of renewable energy in the world. Both countries also consumed the most primary energy overall. The United States strives to achieve energy independence in order to reduce imports of foreign energy sources. As renewable energy gains momentum in a fossil-fuel dominated industry, renewable production in the United States has slightly exceeded the country’s consumption in recent years, and additionally, have both more than doubled since 1975.

This table expresses the use of renewable energy as gross final consumption of energy. Figures are presented in an absolute way, as well as related to the total energy use in the Netherlands. The total gross final energy consumption in the Netherlands (the denominator used to calculate the percentage of renewable energy per ‘Energy sources and techniques’) can be found in the table as ‘Total, including non-renewables’ and Energy application ‘Total’. The gross final energy consumption for the energy applications ‘Electricity’ and ‘Heat’ are also available. With these figures the percentages of the different energy sources and applications can be calculated; these values are not available in this table. The gross final energy consumption for ‘Transport’ is not available because of the complexity to calculate this. More information on this can be found in the yearly publication ‘Hernieuwbare energie in Nederland’.

Renewable energy is energy from wind, hydro power, the sun, the earth, heat from outdoor air and biomass. This is energy from natural processes that is replenished constantly.

The figures are broken down into energy source/technique and into energy application (electricity, heat and transport).

This table focuses on the share of renewable energy according to the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Under this directive, countries can apply an administrative transfer by purchasing renewable energy from countries that have consumed more renewable energy than the agreed target. For 2020, the Netherlands has implemented such a transfer by purchasing renewable energy from Denmark. This transfer has been made visible in this table as a separate energy source/technique and two totals are included; a total with statistical transfer and a total without statistical transfer.

Figures for 2020 and before were calculated based on RED I; in accordance with Eurostat these figures will not be modified anymore. Inconsistencies with other tables undergoing updates may occur.

Data available from: 1990

Status of the figures: This table contains definite figures up to and including 2022, figures for 2023 are revised provisional figures and figures for 2024 are provisional.

Changes as of june 2025: Figures for 2024 have been added.

Changes as of January 2025 Renewable cooling has been added as Energy source and technique from 2021 onwards, in accordance with RED II. Figures for 2020 and earlier follow RED I definitions, renewable cooling isn’t a part of these definitions.
The energy application “Heat” has been renamed to “Heating and cooling”, in accordance with RED II definitions. RED II is the current Renewable Energy Directive which entered into force in 2021

Changes as of November 15th 2024 Figures for 2021-2023 have been adjusted. 2022 is now definitive, 2023 stays revised provisional. Because of new insights for windmills regarding own electricity use and capacity, figures on 2021 have been revised.

Changes as of March 2024: Figures of the total energy applications of biogas, co-digestion of manure and other biogas have been restored for 2021 and 2022. The final energy consumption of non-compliant biogas (according to RED II) was wrongly included in the total final consumption of these types of biogas. Figures of total biogas, total biomass and total renewable energy were not influenced by this and therefore not adjusted.

When will new figures be published? Provisional figures on the gross final consumption of renewable energy in broad outlines for the previous year are published each year in June. Revised provisional figures for the previous year appear each year in June.

In November all figures on the consumption of renewable energy in the previous year will be published. These figures remain revised provisional, definite figures appear in November two years after the reporting year. Most important (expected) changes between revised provisional figures in November and definite figures a year later are the figures on solar photovoltaic energy. The figures on the share of total energy consumption in the Netherlands could also still be changed by the availability of adjusted figures on total energy consumption.

In 2023, Germany accounted for the largest production of renewable energy in Europe, with approximately *** terawatt-hours of energy generated. Norway was the second-largest producer, with some *** terawatt-hours less than Germany. In both countries, renewable energy production increased in 2023 compared to 2023. Germany and the Norway were also among the largest renewable energy consumers in Europe in 2023, while the largest renewable energy capacity was installed in Germany.

The average for 2022 based on 189 countries was 17.69 million kilowatts. The highest value was in China: 1156.13 million kilowatts and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0 million kilowatts. The indicator is available from 1980 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Global Renewable Energy Consumption by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Germany led Europe in renewable energy consumption, with *****exajoules consumed in 2024, up from *****exajoules in 2015. *******and *******************followed as the second and third-largest consumers, highlighting a broader trend of increased renewable energy use across the continent. Renewable energy production and capacity Germany's dominance in renewable energy consumption is mirrored in its production and capacity figures. In 2023, Germany's renewable energy production amounted to approximately *** terawatt-hours, far surpassing other European nations. The country also boasted the largest installed renewable energy capacity in Europe, with almost ****gigawatts as of 2024. This substantial capacity allows Germany to meet its high renewable energy consumption needs and contributes to its leadership in the sector. European renewable energy landscape The broader European renewable energy landscape shows a promising growth. Total renewable energy consumption in Europe reached about ** exajoules in 2023, marking a nine percent increase from the previous year. Wind power has emerged as the primary renewable source in the European Union's electricity mix since 2017, accounting for over ** percent of the EU's renewable mix in 2023.

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country full name using the aggregation average in the Americas. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This scatter chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) against electricity production from renewable sources, excluding hydroelectric (% of total) in Europe. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country full name using the aggregation average in Middle Africa. The data is about countries.

European Share of Renewable Energy Sources in Electricity by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country using the aggregation average in Portugal. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country full name using the aggregation average. The data is about countries.

Global Total Renewable Energy by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country full name using the aggregation average in Vietnam. The data is filtered where the date is 2021. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) by country full name using the aggregation average in Europe. The data is about countries.

This dataset is about countries per year in Eritrea. It has 64 rows. It features 4 columns: country, electricity production from renewable sources, excluding hydroelectric, and renewable energy consumption.

Global RD&D in Renewable Energy Sources by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This dataset is about countries per year in the United Kingdom. It has 64 rows. It features 4 columns: country, electricity production from oil sources, and renewable energy consumption.

In 2021, Austria was the country with the largest share of renewables in final electricity consumption within the European Union, with more than 76 percent. Sweden followed, with a share of 75.7 percent. In contrast, Malta ranked last within the EU, with renewables accounting for less than 10 percent of final electricity consumption in the country that year.