plate 154 · 2026 data

The Philippines is building more solar than it already runs

Utility-scale power capacity running and under construction, by type, GW, Global Energy Monitor, September 2026.

The energy switchpart 21 of 21
  1. 1. China now uses more electricity per person than the EU
  2. 2. Solar now makes more of Brazil's power than fossil fuels
  3. 3. Rooftop solar now outsizes coal on Australia's main grid
  4. 4. Volcanic heat makes nearly 45% of the power Kenya generates
  5. 5. France swung from power importer to record exporter
  6. 6. Over a quarter of China's new heavy trucks are electric
  7. 7. More than two in three cars Nepal imports are electric
  8. 8. The US now ships a quarter of the world's LNG
  9. 9. Kazakhstan mines more uranium than Canada and Namibia combined
  10. 10. Indonesia now mines two-thirds of the world's nickel
  11. 11. India had 27 million ACs for 1.3 billion people
  12. 12. Sun and wind now beat fossil fuels in Chile
  13. 13. Two in three rickshaws sold in India are electric
  14. 14. Argentina mined 60% more lithium in just one year
  15. 15. Ethiopia added over a third of Africa's new renewable power
  16. 16. Only 16 countries are building new coal power plants
  17. 17. Egypt's sun and wind now outproduce its Nile dams
  18. 18. The price of lithium fell 86% in three years
  19. 19. Pakistan now gets more power from solar than from coal
  20. 20. Oil now makes less than a third of Saudi power
  21. 21. The Philippines is building more solar than it already runs
6.1 GW

Solar capacity under construction, against 3.7 GW running; about half is one project, Terra Solar.

80%

Solar's share of all power capacity being built in the country; coal is 13%, at 1.0 GW.

9.8 GW

Solar the country would run once these projects are finished, more than the 7.1 GW of gas and oil running today.

Source: Global Energy Monitor, Global Integrated Power Tracker (September 2026), 2026
the numbers & method
The Philippines is building more solar than it already runs. Source: Global Energy Monitor, Global Integrated Power Tracker (September 2026), 2026.
Solar (GW)Coal (GW)Gas and oil (GW)Hydro, geothermal, wind, bio (GW)
Running3.712.67.15.8
Being built6.11.00.10.4

Claim types Fact · Interpretation

Unit-level data from the tracker's September 2026 release (file 'Global Integrated Power September 2026 V2'), re-read from the progrss data vault inbox on 4 Nov 2026 and summed by type and status by progrss. 'Being built' = GEM status 'construction'; 'running' = 'operating'. Philippines, MW, running / being built: utility-scale solar 3,695.5 / 6,058.1; coal 12,642.4 / 970.0; oil and gas 7,120.3 / 56.0; other 5,818.4 / 448.0 (hydropower 2,758 / 104, geothermal 1,941.0 / 39.6, wind 592.0 / 304.4, bioenergy 527.4 / 0). Pumped-storage hydro (736 MW running, 120 MW being built) is excluded as storage, not generation. Totals: running 29,276.6 MW, being built 7,532.1 MW. One project, Terra Solar (3,000 MW), is about half of the solar being built; without it the solar under construction (3,058 MW) would be less than the solar running. GEM tracks utility-scale solar of 20 MW and above; rooftop solar is not included. Solar capacity mixes AC and DC ratings as reported by GEM. Shares and the 9.8 GW sum are progrss calculations; '9.8 GW once finished' assumes every project under construction is completed and nothing retires (an interpretation, not a forecast). Data are open-access; cited as GEM recommends: "Global Integrated Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, September 2026 release."

Published 4 Nov 2026

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