What does installed capacity in gigawatts mean?

Installed capacity is the maximum power a fleet of generators could produce if every unit ran at full output at once, measured in gigawatts (GW). It is a measure of potential, not of how much electricity is actually generated over a year, which depends on how often each source runs.

Why is capacity different from electricity generated?

Generation depends on the capacity factor — the fraction of the year a source actually runs at full power. Hydropower and wind run far more hours than solar, which is idle at night. So a country with large solar capacity may generate less than one with smaller but steadier hydro capacity.

Which country leads in renewable capacity?

China leads by a wide margin across all three sources, with hundreds of gigawatts each of solar, wind and hydropower. Its combined renewable capacity far exceeds that of any other country and continues to grow rapidly.

Why do some countries rely mostly on hydro?

Countries with large rivers and mountainous terrain, such as Norway, Canada, Brazil and Venezuela, built extensive hydropower long before solar and wind became cheap. Hydro can supply most or all of their electricity, so they have less need to add other renewables.

Are these figures exact?

No. Installed capacity grows continuously as new plants connect to the grid, and sources report slightly different values. The figures here are approximate recent estimates intended for comparison, not a precise or current registry.

What is the Renewable Energy Capacity by Country Reference?

Reference table of installed renewable energy capacity in gigawatts for solar PV, wind and hydropower across 30 leading countries, with a combined total. Filter by country and sort by source. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Renewable Energy Capacity by Country Reference

Name: Renewable Energy Capacity by Country Reference
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Who leads in renewable energy capacity

This reference ranks 30 leading countries by installed renewable energy capacity, broken out into solar photovoltaic, wind and hydropower, with a combined total. All figures are in gigawatts (GW). Sort by any single source or by the total, and filter to a specific country to see its mix.

Capacity versus generation: why the distinction matters

The figures are installed capacity — the rated power of all the generators of each type, in gigawatts. Capacity is potential, not output. Actual annual generation depends on the capacity factor: the share of the year a source runs at full power.

That distinction is crucial when reading the table. Solar PV has a low capacity factor — roughly 10–25% — because panels produce nothing at night and less under cloud. Wind sits higher, and hydropower higher still and far steadier. So a country with 80 GW of solar may generate less electricity than one with 40 GW of hydro. Capacity tells you what has been built; generation tells you what it delivers.

A rough guide to typical capacity factors by source:

Source	Typical capacity factor
Solar PV (sunny region)	18–25%
Solar PV (northern Europe)	10–15%
Onshore wind	25–40%
Offshore wind	35–50%
Hydropower (run-of-river)	30–50%
Hydropower (reservoir)	40–60%

Two countries with the same installed solar capacity can generate very different amounts of electricity depending on their latitude and climate.

Regional patterns to watch for

China leads every category by a substantial margin, driven by decades of aggressive build-out in all three technologies. Its hydro base from the Three Gorges era is complemented by the world’s largest solar and wind additions in recent years.

Norway and Brazil are outliers in a different direction: they show modest solar and wind capacity but massive hydro, because their geography — mountain rivers in Norway, the Amazon basin in Brazil — gave them abundant cheap hydropower before solar and wind became economically competitive. In Norway, hydro supplies the vast majority of national electricity demand.

Germany, Spain and Italy illustrate the European solar surge: despite relatively modest solar resources by global standards, their capacity is large because of long-running incentive programs and falling panel costs.

India and the United States show large and growing totals across all three sources, reflecting both land area and deliberate national clean-energy policies.

Notes and caveats

Figures are rated capacity, not yearly energy generated — do not multiply them directly to compare output.
Hydropower totals reflect long-established dams; solar and wind are growing fastest year on year.
China dominates every category by a large margin.
Values are approximate recent estimates and change continually as new capacity connects to the grid.
Offshore wind capacity is included in wind totals but varies greatly by country — the UK and Denmark have disproportionately large offshore shares relative to their land-based wind.