Solar power generated more electricity worldwide than nuclear power for the first time in 2025, according to figures in the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2026 cited by pv magazine. The report also found that solar exceeded nuclear output in a single month for the first time in April 2025, one month after wind first crossed the same monthly threshold.
The comparison reflects sharply different growth rates. The report estimates that global solar capacity increased by 510 gigawatts during 2025 to reach 2,383 GW, a 27% annual rise. Wind added a record 159 GW and reached 1,291 GW. Installed nuclear capacity, by contrast, increased by 1.5 GW to 399.5 GW, while operating nuclear capacity declined by 0.5 GW to 368.6 GW.
Those solar capacity estimates may be conservative. Separate data from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme put 2025 additions at about 690 GW, roughly 180 GW above the figure used in the status report. The two estimates use different datasets, but both point to rapid photovoltaic deployment.
Nuclear plants produced 2,703 terawatt-hours in 2025, up 1.1% from the previous year. The increase was driven by a 7.6% rise in China; outside China, nuclear generation fell 0.2%. Nuclear supplied 8.8% of global electricity, its lowest share in roughly 45 years and about half the 17.5% peak recorded in 1996.
The reactor fleet nevertheless has a substantial construction pipeline. Seventy-three reactors were being built as of July 1, 2026, the highest total since 1987, with 37 in China. Russian technology was involved in 29 projects worldwide, including 22 outside Russia, and nine out of ten reactors under construction were located in Asia or Eastern Europe.
Delivery times remain a central constraint. None of the 16 reactors connected to grids from 2023 through 2025 was completed on its original schedule, according to the report, and their average construction time was 10.9 years. Four reactors began supplying electricity during 2025 while seven closed, producing the first negative annual reactor balance since 2021.
The report also points to falling battery prices and fast storage deployment as support for further renewable growth. Grid-scale batteries totaling 104 GW and 257 gigawatt-hours were connected in 2025. That storage can help grids manage variable solar and wind production. The figures do not mean nuclear generation is disappearing, but they show that solar’s much faster buildout has changed the global electricity balance. Capacity and annual generation are different measures, yet both comparisons in the report point in the same direction.
