RatedPower publishes 2026 Global Renewable Energy Trends Report as AI, storage, and grid constraints redefine market dynamics

The latest edition draws on insights from 100+ energy professionals and data from more than 64,000 solar and storage design projects across five years

MADRID, Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RatedPower, part of Enverus, the leading energy data analytics platform, announced that it has released its 2026 Global Renewable Energy Trends Report, offering a data-driven assessment of how renewable energy markets are evolving under accelerating deployment, rising electricity demand, and growing system constraints.

The 2026 edition combines insights from over 100 energy professionals globally with real-world data from more than 64,000 projects designed on the RatedPower platform, representing over 5.1 TW of simulated capacity.

Global momentum remains strong. In 2025 alone, renewable additions reached 793 GW, with solar PV accounting for 83% of new capacity. For the first time, renewables surpassed coal in global electricity generation, marking a structural turning point for the energy system. Looking ahead, the International Energy Agency projects 4,600 GW of new renewable capacity between 2025 and 2030, nearly double the pace of the previous five-year period.

Despite this growth, survey results show mounting pressure on infrastructure and markets. While respondents rate their confidence in the sector's long-term outlook at an average of 4.4 out of 5, grid saturation and instability (63.7%) and permitting and regulation (47.8%) remain the most cited barriers to progress. Importantly, grid-related concerns have persisted at elevated levels for four consecutive years, underscoring that congestion and curtailment are becoming structural rather than temporary challenges in high-penetration regions.

The report highlights a sharp rise in market volatility. Negative power prices, once limited to isolated periods, are now emerging as a recurring feature in parts of Europe, Australia, and Latin America, driven by rapid solar buildout and limited system flexibility. Respondents consistently point to energy storage, flexible dispatch, and smarter grid coordination as the most effective levers to preserve project economics under these conditions.

Technology and design practices are already shifting in response. RatedPower platform data confirms that bifacial modules dominate more than 90% of simulated projects, while string inverters now account for over 60% of simulations, reflecting their growing role in modular, grid-responsive designs. Hybrid solar-plus-storage projects have accelerated sharply, rising from 12% of simulations in 2024 to 20% by Q4 2025, with AC-coupled BESS preferred in 83% of cases. The standalone BESS feature, launched on the RatedPower platform just over a year ago, now represents 3% of total simulations, signaling growing commercial interest beyond collocated projects.

Digitalization is emerging as a defining trend. 55% of surveyed professionals already use advanced digital tools to support permitting and site feasibility, while 56% leverage drone imagery and LiDAR in early-stage design. Respondents identified AI-driven optimization, forecasting, and predictive maintenance as the technologies most likely to transform renewables over the next five years, particularly as electricity demand rises from electrification and data center expansion. Commenting on this shift, Diego Lobo Guerrero Rodriguez, Iqony Renewables GmbH, said in the report: "AI is on the rise, and the massive energy requirements of data centers will be driving the expansion of renewable energies in the next decade."

Regionally, survey respondents continued to highlight China, the United States, India, Australia, and Saudi Arabia as the markets with the strongest growth potential. Europe remains a global leader in renewable penetration, but faces intensifying challenges from curtailment, grid congestion, and negative pricing. Emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia are increasingly positioning solar plus storage as a cornerstone of grid stability and energy access, with storage markets expected to more than double globally by 2030.

Download 2026 Global Renewable Energy Trends Report

About Enverus
Enverus is the energy industry's most trusted source for decision intelligence and operational efficiencies. With petabytes of proprietary data, deep domain expertise and AI-native technology, Enverus empowers customers to invest smarter, operate more efficiently, and scale faster — across upstream, midstream, minerals, power and renewables — all while navigating the most complex energy market in history. Learn more at www.enverus.com.

About RatedPower
RatedPower helps companies discover the smartest ways to design and engineer utility-scale solar PV plants and maximize their potential through their software to automate and optimize the study, analysis, design, and engineering of photovoltaic plants and their electrical infrastructure in all its stages. RatedPower has helped design more than 5.1 TW in more than 160 countries. Bringing value to developers, IPPs, contractors, investors, and manufacturers, helping them make better decisions, democratizing engineering knowledge, and boosting the deployment of solar plants worldwide. Learn more at www.RatedPower.com.

SOURCE Enverus