Global Renewable Energy Developments (May–June 2025)

Global renewable energy generation saw significant growth and pivotal changes during May and June 2025. A surge in clean energy investments is driving record-high spending: the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected global energy investment to reach $3.3 trillion in 2025, with $2.2 trillion (about two-thirds) flowing into clean energy technologies (renewables, nuclear, storage) reuters.com reuters.com. According to an IEA report released on June 5, 2025, solar power is expected to attract the largest share – around $450 billion in 2025 – making it the single biggest area of energy investment reuters.com reuters.com. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol noted that despite economic uncertainties, most ongoing renewable projects have not been derailed: investors may be in “wait-and-see” mode for new projects, but “in most areas we have yet to see significant implications for existing projects” reuters.com reuters.com. This optimistic outlook comes amid record renewable energy expansion on the ground. In China, for example, installations of solar and wind power surged to unprecedented levels this period – The Guardian reported on June 26, 2025 that China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind capacity between January and May 2025, an astonishing build-out “enough to generate as much electricity as Indonesia or Turkey” theguardian.com theguardian.com. China’s solar capacity alone has now surpassed 1,000 GW (1 terawatt) – roughly half of all solar capacity worldwide theguardian.com theguardian.com. At the same time, global renewable generation hit new milestones: in the United States, clean power (from renewables and nuclear) provided a majority of electricity for three consecutive months in spring 2025 – March through May – the first time ever for such a sustained period reuters.com reuters.com. U.S. data showed record outputs from solar farms (up 19% year-on-year in May) and wind and hydro, enabling clean sources to outproduce fossil fuels despite slight dips in wind output reuters.com reuters.com. Across the Atlantic, European officials pushed ahead with long-term climate targets: the EU is preparing to propose a 2040 emissions goal (a 90% cut from 1990 levels) – and Denmark’s Climate Minister Lars Aagaard urged that “short-term challenges” like budget pressures must not “halt the (green) transition in Europe,” underscoring that expanding renewables and self-sufficient clean power is essential for both climate and energy security reuters.com reuters.com. Overall, the late-spring 2025 period was marked by rapid renewable energy growth – especially in solar and wind – alongside policy debates and new technological strides, as detailed in the sections below.

Solar Energy Developments (May–June 2025)

Solar Investment and Capacity Growth: Solar power continues to lead global clean energy growth. The IEA’s World Energy Investment 2025 report (released in early June) identified solar as the biggest investment magnet, projecting $450 billion to be spent on solar in 2025 – more than any other energy source reuters.com reuters.com. This wave of investment is driving rapid capacity additions worldwide. Nowhere is this more evident than in China, which is installing solar at record-breaking scale. The Guardian reported on June 26, 2025 that China installed 93 GW of new solar capacity in just the month of May 2025 – that’s nearly “100 solar panels every second,” according to analysis by researcher Lauri Myllyvirta theguardian.com theguardian.com. These May additions brought China’s January–May total to 198 GW of new solar, propelling China’s cumulative solar PV capacity above 1 terawatt for the first time theguardian.com theguardian.com. For context, China’s May 2025 solar installations alone could generate as much electricity as an entire country like Poland or the UAE in a year theguardian.com theguardian.com. This massive scale-up solidifies China’s position as the world’s largest clean energy producer (even as it remains the largest emitter), and reflects President Xi Jinping’s strategy of linking climate ambitions with industrial growth in renewables theguardian.com. Other regions also expanded solar: in Europe, solar output hit seasonal records thanks to new installations and strong spring sunshine, contributing to an all-time high of 14% solar in the EU’s electricity mix in May climateaction.org. And in the Middle East, countries are investing in solar manufacturing and projects – for example, Egypt commenced construction of a $200 million solar components factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (Ain Sokhna) in June 2025, aiming to produce 2 GW of solar panels annually in its first phase mercomindia.com. In the United Arab Emirates, the Emirate of Sharjah inaugurated its first utility-scale solar farm (60 MW) in June, to supply industrial facilities and feed surplus power to the grid mercomindia.com. These developments show that solar deployment is a global phenomenon, with emerging markets ramping up capacity alongside major economies.

Technological Innovations: The period saw impressive advances in solar technology that promise to boost efficiency. Several leading solar manufacturers announced new world records in May–June 2025. For instance, at the SNEC industry expo in late May, China’s LONGi Green Energy unveiled a crystalline silicon–perovskite tandem solar cell achieving ~33% efficiency – a breakthrough for a large-area cell (≈261 cm²) longi.com. Similarly, another Chinese firm, JinkoSolar, announced it had achieved a 27.02% efficiency record for its latest N-type TOPCon silicon solar cells pv-magazine.com. (For comparison, mainstream commercial solar cells typically have ~22% efficiency, so these records signal future panels could produce significantly more power in the same area.) Research institutions also reported progress on perovskite solar technology and flexible cells around this time, keeping the industry’s trajectory of rapid innovation. These gains in efficiency, alongside improvements in energy storage, are crucial to maintaining solar’s momentum as it becomes a larger share of power generation.

Policy and Market Developments: Despite strong growth, the solar sector faced policy uncertainty in the United States during May–June 2025. In late May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill that would roll back many renewable energy incentives from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The House bill, nicknamed the “one big beautiful bill” by its Republican authors, aims to accelerate the expiry of solar and wind tax credits and even make them unusable for many projects reuters.com reuters.com. It would move up the end-date for federal clean energy production credits to 2028 (from the 2030s) and impose tight construction start deadlines, effectively undercutting projects that relied on those incentives reuters.com. Reuters reported on May 22, 2025 that clean energy leaders warned this legislation “would effectively put the brakes on a clean energy production boom” in the U.S. reuters.com reuters.com. Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), cautioned that if enacted, the rollback would “upend an economic boom… that has delivered a historic American manufacturing renaissance, lower electric bills, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and tens of billions of dollars of investments” across the country reuters.com. Solar companies saw immediate market impacts – shares of major solar firms plummeted after the House vote reuters.com reuters.com. By late June, attention turned to the Senate’s version of the bill. On June 28, 2025, Reuters reported that the Senate’s draft budget bill would repeal renewable credits even more abruptly, “deals a fatal blow” to wind and solar tax credits (in place since 2005) by ending them immediately, and even impose a new excise tax on wind and solar projects completed after 2027 reuters.com reuters.com. The Senate plan also offered a tax break for coal production, underscoring the sharp policy reversal in the U.S. reuters.com reuters.com. These moves prompted outcry from the clean energy industry and some experts: the non-profit SAFE (focused on U.S. energy security) said the bill amounted to “outright energy surrender” to China, since it would handicap U.S. renewables while China races ahead in clean tech reuters.com reuters.com. Even Elon Musk, a Trump advisor at the time and clean tech entrepreneur, blasted the Senate bill as “utterly insane and destructive… giving handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.” reuters.com reuters.com Despite this U.S. turbulence, elsewhere governments continued to encourage solar growth – for example, Canada advanced new projects: on May 7, 2025, New Brunswick’s utility (NB Power) announced contracts for 452 MW of new wind and solar capacity in partnership with First Nations communities renewablesassociation.ca renewablesassociation.ca, part of efforts to green the grid in Atlantic Canada. And in Europe, policymakers as mentioned remained committed to higher renewable targets (the EU’s draft 2040 goal and ongoing 2030 plans).

Expert and Industry Perspective: Many experts stress that the long-term trajectory of solar remains positive despite policy headwinds. Gina McCarthy, former White House climate advisor, noted in a May 12, 2025 interview that U.S. companies are “still investing in clean energy” even if they have become quieter publicly under the current administration reuters.com. She observed that while the federal policy reversal is “abrupt” and discouraging, “few businesses with advanced transition initiatives are watering down their climate plans or backtracking” on renewable investments reuters.com. This behind-the-scenes persistence by industry, combined with robust international growth, suggests that solar energy will continue its rapid expansion globally. In summary, May–June 2025 saw solar power scaling new heights – from record deployments and spending to technological leaps – even as the industry navigates political cross-currents in certain markets.

Wind Energy Developments (May–June 2025)

Global Wind Expansion: The wind power sector likewise experienced major developments worldwide in late spring 2025. China again led in sheer scale – alongside its solar boom, China installed an enormous amount of wind capacity. Between January and May 2025, China added 46 GW of new wind power (on top of the 198 GW solar mentioned above) theguardian.com. Remarkably, 26 GW of wind were installed in just the month of May theguardian.com theguardian.com, equivalent to roughly 5,300 new wind turbines in one month’s time. By comparison, that one-month wind addition is about equal to the total installed wind capacity of countries like Vietnam or Argentina. This breathtaking pace solidifies China’s position as the world’s largest wind market. It also achieved a technological milestone: on June 5, 2025, Chinese engineers installed the world’s first 18 MW offshore wind turbine at a test site in Shantou, Guangdong offshorewind.biz. This prototype 18 MW turbine – with a gigantic 260 m rotor diameter – is now the most powerful single wind turbine ever erected, surpassing the previous 15–16 MW class models electrek.co. It points toward the next generation of turbines that can harness more energy per unit, important for offshore wind farm economics. Outside China, other regions saw steady wind project development. In Europe, there was progress on both onshore and offshore projects. For example, Danish authorities in May approved a 51 MW “hybrid” renewable park combining wind and solar (Eurowind’s project) renews.biz, and Germany resumed construction on a 31 MW onshore wind farm after winter delays renews.biz. In the UK, industry watchers noted continued build-out of offshore wind farms (like Dogger Bank’s ongoing construction toward becoming the world’s largest at 3.6 GW). And in North America, Canada made a notable commitment: NB Power (New Brunswick) signed agreements in May for four new wind farms totaling 452 MW capacity, all to be developed jointly with local First Nations partners renewablesassociation.ca renewablesassociation.ca. The projects will come online by 2027–28 and highlight an emphasis on indigenous participation in clean energy development in Canada.

Corporate and Market Moves: Several corporate developments underscored the wind sector’s growth. In Europe, major utilities continued to expand abroad: Italy’s largest utility, Enel, announced on May 26, 2025 a deal to boost its U.S. renewable portfolio by 285 MW through a swap of wind farm assets with investment firm Gulf Pacific Power reuters.com reuters.com. This transaction will raise Enel’s total installed green capacity in the U.S. to around 11.9 GW reuters.com, and is part of Enel’s strategy to acquire operating wind projects (so-called brownfield investments) to accelerate growth. Such deals indicate confidence in the long-term profitability of wind, at least in markets with stable policy. However, in the United States, policy uncertainty clouded the outlook (as with solar). The same House and Senate budget proposals discussed above would also hasten the end of wind power tax credits and even introduce new taxes on wind projects. The Senate’s late-June bill, for instance, would immediately repeal the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind – a subsidy in place since 2005 – and from 2028 impose an additional tax on new wind farms that use any components from China reuters.com reuters.com. It also accelerates the phase-out of credits for domestic wind turbine manufacturing reuters.com. The American Clean Power Association and renewable developers warned that such measures would stall many planned wind installations. In the House bill, the stricter timelines and credit repeals prompted clean energy analysts to write that “this isn’t a scalpel, it’s a meat cleaver” to the sector reuters.com. Despite these U.S. headwinds, global wind investment remains robust. The IEA noted that worldwide, wind power investment is part of the $2.2 trillion clean energy spend in 2025, and emerging markets are picking up some slack if the U.S. slows. For instance, South Africa is moving forward with large-scale wind and solar auctions, and Brazil and Australia continue to see strong wind project pipelines in 2025 (though these specific developments were reported outside the May–June window).

Technology and Innovation: In addition to the Chinese 18 MW turbine achievement, the wind industry is pushing technological boundaries elsewhere. Companies are deploying taller turbines and exploring floating offshore wind. A noteworthy innovation in June 2025 came from floating wind in China: state-owned CRRC launched what it claimed to be the world’s largest floating wind turbine (in Shandong province), a sign that China is entering the floating wind arena to exploit deep-water resources brazilenergyinsight.com. In Europe, developers continued testing floating platforms in Scotland, Norway, and Spain. No new efficiency records (analogous to solar’s) apply in wind, but scale is the main metric of progress – and an 18 MW unit signals that the next commercial offshore wind farms later in the decade might use turbines in the 15–20 MW range, significantly lowering the cost per MWh. Another trend is hybrid renewable plants: as mentioned, projects that combine wind, solar, and storage are being approved (e.g. the Denmark hybrid park with 22.5 MW wind + 28.8 MW solar) renews.biz to maximize land use and provide more consistent output. Finally, we saw continued improvements in wind integration: grid operators in places like Texas and Germany managed new wind generation records in spring 2025 without major issues, thanks to better forecasting and battery support (as noted in grid operations reports).

In summary, wind energy globally in May–June 2025 is characterized by rapid expansion (especially in China), active corporate investment and project development across continents, and ongoing policy debates. While the U.S. contemplates pulling back support for wind, many other regions are forging ahead. Experts emphasize that wind power – which supplied about 7% of global electricity in 2022 – will need to grow substantially to meet climate goals. The record installations and larger turbines of 2025 indicate that the wind industry is rising to that challenge, even if political winds are variable. As Denmark’s Climate Minister highlighted, Europe (and others) view wind alongside solar as pillars of energy security going forward – halting progress now, he warned, would benefit no one in the long run reuters.com reuters.com.

Tidal Energy and Marine Renewables (May–June 2025)

Tidal stream and wave energy – often termed “marine renewables” – made notable strides in mid-2025, even as these technologies remain at a pre-commercial or early commercial stage. A major tidal energy project in Wales (UK) reached important milestones during this period. Inyanga Marine Energy Group, a UK-based developer, is building a 20 MW tidal stream array at the Morlais Demonstration Zone off Anglesey, Wales – one of the largest consented tidal energy projects globally. On May 27, 2025, Inyanga announced it had awarded a fabrication contract to Hutchinson Engineering for its proprietary “HydroWing” tidal turbines offshore-energy.biz offshore-energy.biz. The contract covers key components (steel foundations and nacelle structures) for the first units of the tidal array. Each HydroWing device will produce 1.2 MW and is designed with twin turbines on a wing-like structure that rests on the seabed offshore-energy.biz. Deployment of the first unit is scheduled in Q1 2026 offshore-energy.biz. Inyanga’s CEO, Richard Parkinson, stated that the Morlais project is “the largest of its kind in the world” and a “once in a generation opportunity to prove the full potential of tidal energy”, positioning Wales as a global pioneer offshore-energy.biz. The project also received a boost from policy support – earlier in May, the Welsh Government invested £2 million in Inyanga as part of its funding round offshore-energy.biz, underscoring public commitment to tidal energy innovation. Over June 2025, Inyanga proceeded to award further contracts for the array’s construction (for example, on June 3 it named additional suppliers for other components), indicating steady progress inyangamarine.com offshore-energy.biz. This Welsh project exemplifies how collaboration between developers, government, and local industry is advancing tidal power.

Elsewhere, other tidal and wave initiatives moved forward. In North America, Canada’s Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) in Nova Scotia – home to the world’s most powerful tides – announced new opportunities for tidal projects as of June 3, 2025, inviting developers to deploy next-generation tidal turbines at its test sites fundyforce.ca. Meanwhile, in the United States, attention turned to wave energy on the Pacific coast. In June, Eco Wave Power, an Israeli-founded wave energy company, confirmed the launch date for the first-ever grid-connected wave power project in the U.S. ecowavepower.com. The project, located at AltaSea in the Port of Los Angeles, will be an onshore wave energy array using floating devices attached to a pier to harness Pacific wave motion. It is scheduled to go live on September 9, 2025, with a demonstration event planned to showcase this “historic installation” as a model for how ports can become clean energy hubs ecowavepower.com ecowavepower.com. Announced on June 25, 2025, this pilot will only be a modest scale (roughly 100 kW to a few hundred kW), but it marks a milestone for U.S. marine energy and is backed by both private and public stakeholders (including support from Shell’s marine renewable program) ecowavepower.com. Eco Wave Power’s CEO hailed it as proof-of-concept that could be replicated at other coastal sites ecowavepower.com ecowavepower.com. Additionally, other marine energy news in this period included Scottish and French firms continuing R&D on tidal turbines (Orbital Marine Power in Scotland working on its O2 floating turbine deployments, and Sabella in France preparing for a Brittany deployment), though specific announcements came slightly earlier in 2025.

While tidal and wave energy are still far from mainstream, experts maintain they could play a niche but important role in future energy systems, especially for coastal communities and as a predictable complement to wind and solar. The progress seen in May–June 2025 – from Wales’ 20 MW array construction to U.S. wave energy demonstrations – indicates that marine renewables are moving forward. Industry advocates often note that consistent government support (like the UK’s tidal energy Contracts for Difference allocation and Canada’s tax credits for tidal prototypes) is crucial in this phase. In that regard, the Welsh and Canadian government actions are encouraging. However, policy risk exists here too: marine projects in the U.S. might be affected by the aforementioned federal shifts (though some funding for marine energy R&D is authorized separately). Overall, tidal energy development in this period underscores innovation and persistent optimism. As the CEO of AltaSea in Los Angeles put it, this first wave project is “not just a first for the U.S. – it’s a model for how ports around the world can transform into clean energy hubs.” ecowavepower.com ecowavepower.com The coming years will test how well these pilot projects can scale up and reduce costs, to contribute meaningfully to global clean power generation.

Outlook and Key Takeaways

The developments of May and June 2025 demonstrate both remarkable momentum and significant challenges in the renewable energy landscape. On one hand, investment in clean energy is at an all-time high – reaching record levels globally reuters.com – and deployment of solar and wind is accelerating faster than ever, led by Asia (particularly China) with strong contributions in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Technological innovation is continuing to improve performance and lower costs, from more efficient solar cells to more powerful wind turbines. Emerging sectors like tidal and wave energy are making tangible progress, pointing to an expanding toolkit of renewable options in the future. Furthermore, experts and leaders are emphasizing the need to stay the course for long-term climate and energy goals. “It’s not a solution… to halt the green transition,” Denmark’s climate minister Lars Aagaard urged as Europe sets its sights on deep emissions cuts by 2040 reuters.com reuters.com. This reflects a broad consensus in many countries that scaling up renewables is essential for energy security, economic growth in new industries, and emissions reduction.

On the other hand, the period also highlighted policy risks and growing pains. In the United States, the attempt to roll back clean energy incentives in mid-2025 introduces uncertainty that could slow renewable deployment in one of the world’s largest markets reuters.com reuters.com. Some European countries, too, voiced concerns about the pace and cost of the transition (e.g. Poland and France’s hesitance about a 2040 climate goal) reuters.com, suggesting that even where there is overall progress, debates continue about burden-sharing and energy affordability. Additionally, the strain on supply chains and the need for grid infrastructure upgrades – issues noted by the IEA and others – remain challenges. The IEA warned that while generation investments are booming, grid investments (~$400 billion/year) are still insufficient, which could threaten reliability unless permitting and planning improve reuters.com reuters.com.

In summary, the global trajectory for renewable generation in mid-2025 is overwhelmingly upward. Solar and wind are breaking records for capacity and generation, and attracting the majority of new power sector investment reuters.com. Companies and governments around the world are announcing new projects and manufacturing plans almost weekly, from 450 MW wind farms in Canada renewablesassociation.ca to solar factories in Egypt mercomindia.com. Even nascent technologies like tidal and wave are stepping into the spotlight with concrete projects. This two-month snapshot shows an industry in transition from niche to mainstream – delivering real power in real time (as evidenced by high renewable shares in several large economies’ electricity mix) reuters.com reuters.com. Yet, it also reminds us that policy support remains a key variable: supportive policies can ignite investment and deployment (as seen with the 2022–2024 renewables boom under the U.S. IRA, or the EU’s Green Deal), whereas policy reversals can dampen momentum and confidence in the sector. Stakeholders are watching closely as political winds shift.

Going forward, the expectation from analysts is that 2025 will set new records for renewable energy additions globally, barring major economic shocks. The IEA’s projection of $3.3 trillion energy investment with the majority into clean energy is a strong indicator reuters.com reuters.com. However, the pace of growth in each country will depend on stable policy frameworks and continued technological progress. As Fatih Birol summed up in June 2025, “the fast-evolving economic and trade picture” poses challenges, but so far the clean energy surge is on track reuters.com. In these months, the world has seen that renewable energy is not just a future ideal – it is happening now at an unprecedented scale, bringing both opportunities and the need for thoughtful navigation of obstacles. The balance of news – from bullish corporate investments and innovation breakthroughs to political debates – underscores that the global renewable transition is entering a critical phase, one defined by action and implementation. The coming months will reveal whether the record growth observed through May and June 2025 can be sustained and even amplified in the latter half of the year, keeping the world on course to meet its clean energy and climate ambitions.

Sources (Publication Date Order):

• Amy Hawkins, The Guardian – “China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power” (June 26, 2025) theguardian.com theguardian.com
• Forrest Crellin, Reuters – “Global energy investment set to hit record $3.3 trillion in 2025, IEA says” (June 5, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Valerie Volcovici & Nichola Groom, Reuters – “House budget bill effectively halts US clean energy boom” (May 22, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Isabelle Yr Carlsson, Reuters – “Denmark warns EU against halting green transition” (June 27, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Gavin Maguire, Reuters – “Record US clean power run rolls on through May” (May 29, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Oliver Balch, Reuters – Interview with Gina McCarthy (May 12, 2025) reuters.com
• CanREA (Canadian Renewable Energy Association) – Press Statement on New Brunswick wind projects (May 7, 2025) renewablesassociation.ca renewablesassociation.ca
• Zerina Maksumić, Offshore Energy – “Inyanga Marine Energy awards contract for Welsh tidal energy project” (May 27, 2025) offshore-energy.biz offshore-energy.biz
• Eco Wave Power – Press Release: First U.S. wave energy project launch (June 25, 2025) ecowavepower.com ecowavepower.com
• Reuters – “Senate bill hastens end of wind, solar tax credits and imposes new tax” (June 28, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Francesca Landini, Reuters – “Italy’s Enel to raise US green energy capacity with wind farms swap” (May 26, 2025) reuters.com reuters.com
• Mercom India – “MENA Roundup: Egypt Launches $200 Million Solar Plant…” (June 30, 2025) mercomindia.com mercomindia.com
• Reuters – “Senate bill … (June 28, 2025)” reuters.com reuters.com (additional context)