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Seven countries now generate nearly all their electricity from renewables (2024)
- Noaidi 6mo ago[flagged]
- saidnooneever 6mo agoi love that in a lot of countries people think these other countries are in the sticks and that they are modern... (ofc depending who u talk to but im sure we all know such a person...) :) a lot of perceptions based on old world views. Love to see these countries do so well on it. There might be many problems to solve still but it provides a degree of self reliance for energy that is really important today for a country i'd think
- giantg2 6mo agoIt's contrary to what most people think, but the later a country modernized, the better the infrastructure (generally). You basically get to skip the innovation stages where you have a hodgepodge of systems that eventually coalesce into one and all the upgrading required to bring it up to the newest standard. If you have a lower population and smaller geography, it is often easier to upgrade as well.
- readthenotes1 6mo agoThose "countries in the sticks", one report says that the DRC only has at most 20% of the households on electricity. This report says only 10% https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/democratic-republic-congo-market-overview# https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/democratic-r... On the other hand, balcony solar power will be a game changer for the world, provided your neighbors won't steal the panels like they do the catalytic converters in my neighborhood.
- highgency 6mo ago[dead]
- mpweiher 6mo agoAlbania: 90% Hydropower, $12150 GDP/person Bhutan: 99% Hydropower, $ 4700 GDP/person Nepal: 23% Imported $ 1381 GDP/person rest Hydropower (2/3 of energy: firewood etc.) Paraguay: 100% Hydropower, $ 7990 GDP/person Iceland: 99% Hydry/Geo, $90000 GDP/person Ethiopia: 88% Hydropower, $ 1350 GDP/person DR Kongo: 98% Hydropower, $ 760 GDP/person , 13% of country has electricity Not sure how this is applicable (and in many cases: desirable) for countries that do not have significant hydropower potential or maybe want a GDP greater than $760 per person per year.
- paulnpace 6mo ago[flagged]
- locallost 6mo agoThe only slaves right now are people praying Iran and the US make a deal to open Hormuz.
- jacquesm 6mo agoIndeed, the cold-turkey effects are already starting to be more visible. Until November traffic here had recovered to > the pre COVID levels, but since then it has dropped considerably, enough to notice, and we're only a few weeks into this.
- 0xy 6mo ago[flagged]
- Mordisquitos 6mo agoSpecifically Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Not to downplay the positive steps that are being taken towards using renewable energy worldwide, but one must point out that all those countries except one are almost exclusively using hydroelectric power, whose availability at such scale is a geographical lottery. As for Iceland, which also relies mostly on hydroelectric power but not in such great a proportion, it makes up for it thanks to easy and abundantly available geothermal power (which, though environmentally friendly, is arguably not technically renewable).
- darkwater 6mo agoWhy geothermal is not renewable? Earth is not going to cool its magma soon enough
- left-struck 6mo ago“Technically”
- mr_mitm 6mo agoThen no power source is "technically" renewable.
- ahhhhnoooo 6mo agoThen solar and wind aren't technically renewable either, because the sun is going to eventually consume the earth and explode. Geothermal is renewable.
- Mordisquitos 6mo agoHowever much solar or wind energy we use, the Sun will last exactly as long. This is not a matter of scale. Even if we were to build a photovoltaic Dyson sphere around the Sun, it would have the same lifespan. That is not the case for geothermal. It could in theory be cooled down if exploited at a massive scale. Saying geothermal is not renewable is not an indictment nor a criticism. Geothermal is great and we should use it more. It's just technically not renewable, but that doesn't matter.
- goldenarm 6mo agoThis article omits important context : these 7 countries have massive hydro power (+geothermal for Iceland) for very little demand. The only countries with <100 g CO2/kWh and >10TWh/y are using nuclear. Large scale batteries are exciting for the future but need more development. The 2 biggest battery investments in the world are being made in Australia and California, yet still produce 4x the g CO2/kWh of France. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/5y/yearly https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/5y/yearly
- realo 6mo agoPerovskite Tandem are the best , according to the graph. Why is it that those are reserved for ultra-big utility companies and I cannot buy those for my home or even my balcony?
- philipkglass 6mo agoAt present, those tandem cells are still experimental. Nobody is manufacturing them on gigawatt scale like for other solar cell technologies.
- nicoburns 6mo agoThey're much more expensive than traditional silicon cells, they often use toxic materials (lead, cadmium, etc), and IIRC their lifespans aren't as long. Unless you have significant space constraints it's usually better just to get twice as many traditional panels.
- aqua_coder 6mo agoI live in one of those countries, and while renewable electricity helped to cushion the concern for house electricity, most of the logistics (that being the supply chain for basic commodities) are transported by oil (specifically diesel). Which further increases inflation for import dependent countries. Meaning even for those states (except those that don't import oil to move cars in the country) it will regardless cause an economic crisis. One state is considered to be fully 'renewable' if the means of transport (excluding Airplanes since I can't find a suitable alternative ) for land is done via electric cars
- cenamus 6mo agoOr just trains
- phtrivier 6mo ago> Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7 per cent of the electricity they consumed using geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power. Let's head to electricitymaps.com ! Albania (https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/AL/live/fifteen_minutes https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/AL/live/fifteen_min...) - On 2026-04-12 16:45 GMT+2, 22,67% of electricity consumed by Albania is imported from Greece, which generates 22% of its electricity from gas. Interestingly, Albania exports about as much to Montenegro as it imports from Greece. Bhutan: - 100% hydro, makes perfect sense Nepal: - 98% hydro, a bit of solar for good measure Iceland: - 70% hydro, 30% geo Paraguay: - 99,9% hydro Ethiopia: - 96,4% hydro DRC - 99.6% hydro So, the lessons for all other countries in the world is pretty clear: grow yourselves some mountains, dig yourselves a big river, and dam, baby, dam !! (I'm kidding, but I'm sure someone has a pie-in-the-sky geoengineering startup about to disrupt topography using either AI, blockchain, or both.)
- KellyCriterion 6mo agowasnt New Zealand also already far up beyond 90% renewable electricity a couple of years ago?
- direwolf20 6mo agoThey are blessed with all three of hydro, geothermal, and wind.
- bogeholm 6mo agoDo we have many countries around where wind is not a thing?
- peterashford 6mo agoAnd sun isn't uncommon. I was chatting with a person in Auckland, NZ. He said it was a cloudly day and he was producing much more solar power than he needed. His take: the panels are the cheapest part of the system so they just over-provisioned. We can all do that - it aint hard
- ilitirit 6mo agoProbably at least slightly misleading, just reading the names of some of the countries in the list (I am from South Africa). Just because a country generates 100% of its energy from renewables, it doesn't mean that its enough to power the entire or even majority of the country. Case in point: DRC. I believe only half of the population has access to electricity. It's been a while since I've looked into continental stats, but a quick Google search suggests the situation hasn't changed that much in the last few years.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- runako 6mo agoPushback against the outliers of small + blessed with hydro and geothermal is overshadowing real wins: - California: 83% renewable, dominated by solar - Spain: 73%, dominated by solar & wind - Portugal: 90%, dominated by wind & solar - The Netherlands: 86%, dominated by solar & wind - Great Britain: 71%, dominated by wind & solar There's real momentum happening.
- KevinMS 6mo agoIsn't that the list of high energy prices and blackouts?
- tialaramex 6mo agoAlthough "Getting rid of cheaper electricity generation would make the electricity cheaper" is genuinely an actual right wing talking point in the UK it doesn't make any sense. The reason it's a talking point is that they're funded by billionaires who'd reap the rewards from new fossil fuel licensing. They know they can't deliver, but what they learned from Brexit is that their supporters aren't too smart and simple messages, even if nonsensical, resonate well with those voters. "Drill baby drill" is simple. Wrong, but simple. Right now in a dark and not very windy UK w/ 10GW of gas burners running the spot price for electricity here is almost £150 per MWh, but at 10am it was sunny with a brisk wind and sure enough that spot price was about £25 per MWh. Gee, I wonder whether the wind and sun are cheaper...
- philipallstar 6mo ago> Although "Getting rid of cheaper electricity generation would make the electricity cheaper" is genuinely an actual right wing talking point in the UK it doesn't make any sense Can you cite this please?
- tialaramex 6mo agoSpecifically both the Tories and Reform pledge to eliminate the "Green levy" funding for renewables. But that funding doesn't just vanish in a puff of smoke after voters pay it, it's paying for us to have renewable energy generation. The very stupid part is that we spent a lot of money already and they can't reverse time's arrow, they can't unspend that money, they can only choose (and at least publicly are choosing) not to reap the reward. Edited: Ah, maybe you want a citation for the specific phrasing, in which case that's fair, I cannot cite a UK politician, on the right or anywhere else, who has said those exact words.
- highgency 6mo ago[dead]
- PowerElectronix 6mo agoSadly these are edge cases due to either a lot of hydro, which is terrible for the environment in most cases or having neighbors that buy the renewable and help stabilize the grid with conventional energy. The best way to go green is still going green yourself. Get some panels, batery, inverter and go where no government wants you to go, off-grid. (And a gas generator, too, just in case...)
- lateforwork 6mo agoMeanwhile the US is spending billions to cancel renewable energy. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/climate/offshore-wind-gas-trump-total.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/climate/offshore-wind-gas...
- pfdietz 6mo agoKing Canute Trump trying to order back the tide.
- fleroviumna 6mo ago[dead]
- LastTrain 6mo agoBlows me away that energy policy is so political, and that somehow self-styled libertarians who don’t say a peep about oil subsidies are deeply offended by renewable ones. It you consider yourself libertarian can you at least be forward-thinking enough to see that shifting to renewables is also a step towards decentralization?
- krupan 6mo agoHi! How is it decentralization if it's subsidized by the government? And which libertarians are in favor of oil subsidies? I'd like to have a talk with them
- ragebol 6mo ago> How is it decentralization Producers of electricity being everywhere is more distributed than relatively centralized power generation stations. Regardless of who paid (part of) it
- LastTrain 6mo agoThe technologies for renewable energy are inherently more decentralized than those for fossil fuels. My point was clearly this and nothing else: given that there are subsidies for both, a libertarian should be less upset about renewable subsidies since it is an enabling force for individual liberties when it comes to energy production. In practice, they are very outspoken about renewable subsidies and fairly quiet on oil subsidies.
- sph 6mo agoSeeing so many sub-Saharan countries generating >= 50% of their electricity from renewables makes me smile: https://static.the-independent.com/2024/04/16/11/renewable%20energy%20100%20map%20world.png?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp https://static.the-independent.com/2024/04/16/11/renewable%2...
- bluGill 6mo agoIt makes me sad - most of them are fairly poor and so don't use much energy. I want those people to have the wealth to consume as much energy as me. (My city is also 100% renewable but since I live in the us we don't show near as well on the charts overall.
- celsoazevedo 6mo agoIs the glass half empty or half full? If they're able to produce clean energy to cover a large part of their needs, then that's a reason to be happy. We can also hope their quality of life improves without having to waste as much energy as people in the US do. The amount of electricity, gas, etc, used just to heat or cool down houses... if they can be smarter and do it while using less energy, then good for them.
- bluGill 6mo agoNeeds vs wants. I don't need most of what I use energy for. I could wear really thick coats on those -30c days in winter. Instead of indoor plumbing I could have a bucket of water that I need to draw from a well just before I use it (so it isn't frozen)... Living like that on a camping trip is even fun for a few days, but I'm glad to spend most of my time in a house where I can use a lot of energy on wants. Now granted as they improve their quality of life I hope they can take the best technology I have. There is no reason they should build poorly insulated houses just because that is a phase we went through 100 years ago - before we knew better. (they will undoubtedly make plenty of mistakes without following ours - for that matter I what our children will think about us...)
- rs_rs_rs_rs_rs 6mo agoAll these industrial powerhouses like Iceland and Albania!
- ardit33 6mo agoLol... Hey now, I am Albanian, and we have delicious food. :) And export a bunch of random things (like Oregano, Olive Oil, Lavender, Shoes, etc..), and some steel and oil. But, mostly 'light industry' stuff.
- rs_rs_rs_rs_rs 6mo agoNot hating, would have made fun of my poor eastern european country too if it would have been on that list.
- mentalgear 6mo agoArticle from 2024: still super impressive in 2024 yet I'd like more recent numbers to see the progress.
- dalyons 6mo agoWorse, the summary article makes claims using 2022 data which is so out of date to be useless
- efitz 6mo agoMixing in geothermal and hydro really distorts the story. Although technically correct, the common usage connotation of “renewable energy “ today is “wind and solar”.
- Lichtso 6mo ago> the common usage connotation of “renewable energy “ today is “wind and solar” Hydro, wind and solar. Hydro is often even more important because it runs more steadily than the other two. Geothermal and nuclear are neither fossil nor renewable, they are their own category.
- mentalgear 6mo agoWhat a great beacon of hope to consider that we are closer than we thought in the clean energy rollout ! I read somewhere, not sure though how it is assessed/how valid it is, that last year 50% world-wide came already from clean power, with countries like the UK around 50% in the middle and others like Spain far ahead.
- esskay 6mo agoYeah UK's currently going through the biggest rollout of renewable energy ever, the pace is insanely high. Theres new rules to allow plug in solar coming into effect too with kits already available for renters and such.
- jonatron 6mo agoThey announced they're thinking about amending regulations to allow plug in solar at some point. Hopefully something eventually actually gets done.
- esskay 6mo agoThey're more than thinking about it, it's already going ahead :) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-make-plug-in-solar-available-within-months https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-make-plug-i... British Gas, Octopus, etc are all prepping kits right now, Ecoflow has already got a certified product line sitting in UK warehouses ready to go. We're talking within a couple of months and it'll be running.
- birktj 6mo agoThis is a bit of a weird list. This looks at the percentage of electricity generation that is renewable. But some of these countries are net importers. I think the final row in the table from the report [1] is more interesting. It compares the generation of renewable energy as a percentage of demand. There are quite a few countries that don't quite have 100% renewable generation, but generate way more than 100% of their demand as renewable energy. [1]: https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/Countries100Pct.pdf https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/Countri...
- Thlom 6mo agoShould also compare with total energy consumption. Lots of countries have good electricity generation numbers, but use gas or oil at the consumer level for heating (and cooking) and oil products (diesel, gasoline) for transportation. Electrification matters.
- amarant 6mo agoHonestly surprised Iceland doesn't rely more on geothermal, the entire country is a volcano! I had expected a 70-30 split in the other direction
- yownie 6mo agomost people from abroad do, but most of that geothermal goes to home heating and not power generation too.
- svth 6mo agoGeothermal is fantastic for heating. Speaking as an Icelander, we have so much hot water in Reykjavík that we even use the residue to keep our pavements clear of ice in winter. Pipes under the sidewalks carry exiting geothermally heated water from nearby houses. It's great technology and has served us well.
- MrDresden 6mo agoHydro power is older and thus makes up a bigger share. There are plans to increase geothermal drilling in certain areas, as far as I am aware.
- khriss 6mo ago[dead]
- flakiness 6mo agoJapan used to have many dams for the electricity but then scaled them down (or not scale it up) due to environmental concern. I'm not sure it was a right call given the limited availability of options there. They are also strong anti-nuclear sentiment which I have some sympathy. However you need something you have to make a call. This map says hydro share is like 8%. https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/JP/live/fifteen_minutes https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/JP/live/fifteen_min...
- leonidasrup 6mo agoThe article cites research publication by Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson, very famous 100% wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) advocate. His past research was already cited by Leonardo DiCaprio on Sept. 23 2014, during opening of the UN Climate Summit. “The good news is that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy,” DiCaprio told the more than 120 world leaders assembled. “New research shows that by 2050 clean, renewable energy could supply 100 percent of the world’s energy needs using existing technologies, and it would create millions of jobs.” https://cee.stanford.edu/news/what-do-mark-z-jacobson-leonardo-dicaprio-and-united-nations-have-common https://cee.stanford.edu/news/what-do-mark-z-jacobson-leonar... The 100% renewable papers by Mark Z. Jacobson were subject to strong criticism. Jacobson filed a lawsuit in 2017 against the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Christopher Clack as the principal author of the paper for defamation. In February 2024, Jacobson lost the appeal and was required to pay defendants more than $500,000 in legal fees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Jacobson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Jacobson Jacobson is also very strong critic of nuclear energy. In calculating CO2 emissions from using nuclear energy, he includes carbon emissions associated with the burning of cities resulting from a nuclear war aided by the expansion of nuclear energy and weapons to countries previously without them. Jacobson assumes that some form of nuclear induced burning that will occur once every 30 years.
- raptor99 6mo agoWhew, very glad that a leading scientific voice like DiCaprio is speaking of this to world leaders. Solid foundations.
- cheema33 6mo ago> Whew, very glad that a leading scientific voice like DiCaprio is speaking of this to world leaders. General public does not know the scientists by name. When they say something, few people listen. When a famous person says the same thing, many more people listen. That is the world we live in. I'll take DiCaprio or any famous person promoting a good cause any day.
- hbarka 6mo agoLink to the source data: https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/Countries100Pct.pdf https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/Countri...
- librasteve 6mo agoI see that Norway is big on renewables - great that all that Oil & Gas revenue can be used to build hydro & wind to salve their conscience.
- chinabot 6mo agoInteresting looking at the data, that Norway generates 4x the electricity of NZ and they are roughly the same size and population I assume it exports most.
- librasteve 6mo agoI found this info... https://www.nationalgrid.com/national-grid-powers-worlds-longest-subsea-interconnector-between-uk-and-norway https://www.nationalgrid.com/national-grid-powers-worlds-lon... UK generation is 30GW right now, so this is ~ 5% By enabling the trade of renewable energy between the two countries, North Sea Link will help reduce the burning of fossil fuels in the UK and avoid 23 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030. The 450-mile cable, which connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal, near Stavanger, will start with a maximum capacity of 700 megawatts (MW) and gradually increase to the link’s full capacity of 1400MW over a three-month period. The gradual increase in capacity follows the Norwegian system operator’s standard approach for integrating new interconnectors. Once at full capacity, NSL will provide enough clean electricity to power 1.4 million homes. North Sea Link will be the fifth interconnector for National Grid, which also operates links to Belgium, France and the Netherlands. By 2030, 90% of electricity imported via National Grid’s interconnectors will be from zero carbon sources saving 100 million tonnes of carbon – equivalent to taking two million cars off the road. NSL has taken six years to build. Laying of the undersea cables began in 2018 and more than four million working hours have been spent on the project, including 5,880 working days at sea. Norwegian power generation is sourced from hydropower plants connected to large reservoirs, which can respond faster to fluctuations in demand compared to other major generation technologies. However, as the water level in reservoirs is subject to weather conditions, production varies throughout seasons and years. When wind generation is high and electricity demand low in Britain, NSL will enable renewable power to be exported from the UK, conserving water in Norway’s reservoirs. When demand is high in Britain and there is low wind generation, hydro power can be imported from Norway, helping to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable electricity supplies for UK consumers.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 6mo agoAbout 80% of global primary energy consumption comes from fossil fuels [1]. With renewables growing at 10x the rate of demand growth, we’re moving in the right direction. But it’s dishonest to frame it as a “tipping point.” [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_supply_and_consumption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_supply_and_consum...
- _ph_ 6mo agoThe comparison with "primary energy" misses the inefficiency of the usage of fossil fuels. If you electrify the main uses of fossil energy, the efficency goes up by like a factor of 3 - electric cars vs. ICE, heat pumps vs. burning fuels. Yes, it is a long journey until the whole energy consumption is moved to renewables, but running the electric grid of a country like Germany to way over 60% on renewables is an important point on the way there.
- PunchyHamster 6mo agoI don't think countries with rolling blackout should count. Unless the point here is "if we accept rolling blackouts we too can go full solar"
- gatvol 6mo agoLovely. What does their power cost? How much power hungry industry do these countries have?
- latentframe 6mo agoCases are very interesting but most rely a lot on hydro and specific geography : the real shift is not exactly 100% renewables in small systems but maybe more whether large industrial economies can replicate this with maintaining grid stability and lower costs
- pif 6mo agoWake me up when a heavily industrialized country will be in the list, thanks!
- ragebol 6mo agoThat is an good next step, but also kind-of moving the goal posts. Albania is fairly industrialized though I'd say: ~20% of GDP as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania?useskin=vector#Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania?useskin=vector#Economy vs 15% of US economy as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_States?useskin=vector#/media/File:US_manufacturing_industry's_share_of_nominal_GDP.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_the_United_St...
- pelasaco 6mo agoI am not sure, but i guess the Paraguayan Energy is mostly generated in Brazil, which as i can see here https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil https://www.iea.org/countries/brazil generates 88.826% of its own energy from Renewables.
- midtake 6mo agoWhere's nuclear? How is solar more renewable than nuclear?
- tim333 6mo agoNuclear burns uranium which doesn't renew much. Although there isn't really a shortage either. The sun of course will run out one day but people don't really plan that far out.
- jaspanglia 6mo agotbh times like this, thinking about only renewables is totally stupidity. Look at what germany did to it's economy stupid fellas.
- sehansen 6mo agoGermany: electricity 56% renewables, 4% GDP growth since 2021Q1, 6.4% unemployment Denmark: electricity 92% renewables, 14% GDP growth since 2021Q1, 2.7% unemployment I don't think renewables are what's wrong with Germany, more likely it's a) their lack of infrastructure investment and maintenance in the past decade-an-a-half, b) their excessive coddling of established and well-connected businesses.
- olalonde 6mo agoNot a country but Quebec has been 95%-99% hydro since the 1960s.
- ish099 6mo agoThis is impressive
- tracker1 6mo agoI still feel that excluding Nuclear is a mistake for a lot of areas.