Global energy investment is on track to hit a record $3.3 trillion in 2025, according to the new International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual World Energy Investment report, even as the world navigates economic turbulence and rising geopolitical risks.
The lion’s share of that money – about $2.2 trillion – is heading toward clean technologies. That includes renewables, nuclear, grids, battery storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency, and electrification. It’s twice the amount going into fossil fuels.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol says countries are working to insulate themselves from future shocks in the energy sector. “Amid the geopolitical and economic uncertainties that are clouding the outlook for the energy world, we see energy security coming through as a key driver of the growth in global investment.”
China has cemented its status as the world’s top energy investor, spending nearly as much as the US and EU combined. In 2015, it barely edged out the US. Today, it’s pulling far ahead, especially in clean energy. Over the past decade, China has boosted its share of global clean energy investment from 25% to nearly 33%, thanks to massive spending on solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, EVs, and batteries.
Solar is once again the star. Investment in both rooftop and utility-scale solar is expected to hit $450 billion this year, more than any other energy tech globally. Battery storage is also surging, projected to hit $65 billion in 2025. Nuclear is trending upward too, with capital flows rising 50% over five years to about $75 billion.
The global energy mix continues to shift. In 2015, fossil fuel investment outpaced electricity spending by 30%. But this year, electricity investments, which include generation, grids, and storage, are expected to be 50% higher than what’s being spent on oil, gas, and coal.
But not everything is trending in the right direction. Grid investments, at $400 billion a year, aren’t keeping up with the pace of new generation and electrification. That’s a red flag for electricity security. The IEA warns that grid spending needs to catch up fast, but bottlenecks like permitting delays and tight supply chains for cables and transformers are slowing progress.
China and India also continue to invest in coal. In 2024, China began construction on nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants, pushing global coal project approvals to their highest levels since 2015.
Meanwhile, oil investment is expected to dip 6% this year – the first drop since the COVID crash in 2020. That’s mostly due to less spending on US tight oil – oil extracted using fracking, which is processed into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. On the flip side, investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) is booming, especially in the US, Qatar, and Canada. Between 2026 and 2028, LNG capacity is set to see its largest ever capacity growth.
One of the report’s most troubling takeaways: Africa is being left behind. Despite accounting for 20% of the world’s population, the continent attracts just 2% of global clean energy investment. Overall energy investment in Africa has fallen by a third in the past decade. The IEA says public finance needs to scale up fast to help unlock private capital and close the gap in developing economies.
The bottom line: Clean energy is surging, solar continues to lead, and China is dominating global spending. But if grid upgrades don’t catch up and the investment gap in the Global South isn’t closed, energy access and climate goals could fall behind.
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