Global clean energy manufacturing supply far exceeds demand

Published Wed, May 27, 2026 · 11:45 PM

CLEAN energy manufacturers around the world now have double the production capacity needed to meet global renewable energy demand as factory output surges in Asia while the US and Europe lag.

Production of the parts required to make solar, battery and wind energy far outstripped demand in 2025 across the entire supply chain, BloombergNEF said in its 2026 Energy Transition Supply Chain report released on Wednesday (May 27), reflecting rapid manufacturing growth in parts of Asia despite China’s enduring dominance.

The oversupply pushed renewable energy prices lower in 2025 before oil prices soared as a result of the war in Iran, strengthening the appeal of clean energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Countries including Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Chile are responding to higher fuel prices with policies aimed at accelerating clean technology adoption, the report showed.

Expanded manufacturing capacity outside China is contributing to a worsening global supply glut, according to the report, as India, Turkey and countries in South-east Asia ramp up solar output.

China stays on top

Meanwhile, the US has tried to capture a larger share of the solar supply chain, though with limited success. 

US solar companies have won several trade cases aimed at shielding domestic producers through steep tariffs on cells and panels imported from China and South-east Asian nations.

Even so, excess global supply has continued to weigh on American manufacturers, and many new factory projects are being cancelled or delayed due to policy uncertainty and international competition.

“China is dominant on the manufacturing capacity side,” said Stephanie Muro, a BloombergNEF analyst and one of the report’s authors.

Other countries are slowly gaining ground, particularly for solar manufacturing, she said. Still, China controls more than 70 per cent of manufacturing capacity for almost every renewable energy segment.

Taking assembly in-house

China’s dominance in finished solar modules is lingering behind solar cells, which are the components that convert sunlight into energy.

That is because the nature of solar output is shifting as more countries import components from China in order to build and export the final products themselves, the report noted.

That trade shift was more noticeable in 2025, with solar cells making up 44 per cent of solar-related global trade, up from 25 per cent a year earlier.

However, solar panel manufacturers across South-east Asia still reflect China’s influence.

Muro said that about 80 per cent of such manufacturers in the region are Chinese companies, as the country seeks lower labour costs and ways to avoid tariffs by building and exporting final products abroad.

Global battery-cell manufacturing was almost double demand last year and battery-powered electric vehicle demand remained strong.

Global plug-in hybrid EV sales climbed 83 per cent in 2025 from a year earlier and pure battery EV sales rose 15 per cent, helping total EV shipments climb to 6.4 million units from 4.9 million in 2024. BLOOMBERG