Charts / Energy
Africa's installed renewable capacity reached 82.4 GW in 2025
Africa's total installed renewable electricity capacity rose from about 37 GW in 2016 to 82.4 GW at the end of 2025, more than doubling in a decade.
Updated October 2026 · Data year 2025 (time series 2016-2025)
Figure 1
Africa's total installed renewable electricity capacity rose from about 37 GW in 2016 to 82.4 GW at the end of 2025, more than doubling in a decade.
82.4
2025 · GW
Source: IRENA · 2025 (time series 2016-2025) · Values converted from MW in IRENA's 2026 edition and rounded to one decimal. IRENA revises prior years between editions, so these differ from earlier releases.
Africa ended 2025 with 82,371 MW of installed renewable capacity, up from 37,065 MW in 2016, per IRENA's 2026 edition [S1]. The 2025 total was an 11,280 MW jump on 2024, the largest single-year gain in the series. Hydropower remained the backbone at 48,914 MW, close to 60 percent of the continent's renewable fleet [S1]. One honest caveat: IRENA revises prior-year figures between editions, so the number for a given year can shift from one release to the next and cross-edition comparisons can mislead [S2]. Africa is still a small share of global renewable capacity.
Takeaways
- Africa's renewable capacity hit 82,371 MW at end-2025, per IRENA.
- Capacity more than doubled from 37,065 MW in 2016.
- Hydropower led with 48,914 MW, near 60 percent of the total.
Sources
- TIER A IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026 (2026). https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2026/Mar/IRENA_DAT_RE_Capacity_Statistics_2026.pdf
Africa Total renewable energy time series 2016-2025 and 2025 hydropower figure. Carries the 82,371 MW headline - TIER A IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2025 (2025). https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2025/Mar/IRENA_DAT_RE_Capacity_Statistics_2025.pdf
Earlier edition. Confirms IRENA revises prior-year Africa figures between editions