Renewable energies mitigate the impact of the gas crisis

A "record" number of solar and wind capacities were installed worldwide in 2025, representing the equivalent of more than one-seventh of global gas production, reported the think tank Ember, estimating that renewables were "mitigating the impact of the energy crisis".

"The electricity produced by these facilities alone could replace more than one-seventh of global gas production, or almost double the total volume of Qatar's annual LNG (liquefied natural gas) exports," the energy think tank points out, as the war in the Middle East has caused oil and gas prices to soar and put energy security back at the heart of concerns.

Since the start of the conflict on February 28, "existing wind and solar capacities worldwide have prevented the production of approximately 330 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity from gas, representing a potential saving of over $40 billion," he added in a report published Friday.

At current market prices, this equates to an annual gas import cost of approximately $138 billion, he estimates.

"The continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the risks associated with dependence on imported oil and gas," said Kingsmill Bond, an analyst at Ember.

"Solar energy, wind energy and batteries offer importers a real path to energy security, a less expensive solution, faster to deploy and without geopolitical constraints," he added.

"The scale and speed of solar energy development are unprecedented in the energy sector," said Leonard Heberer, data analyst at Ember.

"These technologies are on track to become the backbone of the global electricity supply," he noted.

According to Ember, 814 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind capacity were added worldwide in 2025 and the combined global capacity of the two energy sources now exceeds 4 terawatts (TW).

Solar power accounts for the bulk of these new capacities, highlighting "the increasingly important role of solar power in the global electricity system," according to Ember.

By the end of 2025, the cumulative solar capacity reached nearly 2.900 GW.

Wind power deployment, meanwhile, saw a significant increase (+47%) and represented a global capacity of approximately 1.300 GW by the end of 2025.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.