PHOTO
North Africa’s installed renewable energy capacity reached 15,925 megawatts (MW) in 2025, with Egypt and Morocco accounting for the bulk of capacity additions, while Tunisia is emerging as a secondary growth market and Algeria and Libya continue to lag, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Egypt remains the region’s largest renewable energy market, with total installed capacity of 9,258 megawatts (MW) in 2025, representing nearly half of North Africa’s total, an analysis of IRENA’s ‘Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026’ report showed. The country’s portfolio is led by solar (3,267 MW) and onshore wind (3,028 MW), supported by a legacy renewable hydropower base of 2,832 MW. Bioenergy is a distant contributor at 131MW.
Morocco ranks second with 4,851 MW, supported by a diversified mix that includes 2,452 MW of wind, 2,120 MW of renewable hydropower, and 1086 MW of solar power.
Tunisia has reached 1,206 MW, driven primarily by solar PV capacity of 895 MW, with wind contributing 245 MW and renewable hydropower 66MW.
Algeria’s renewable capacity remains limited at 601 MW, dominated by solar PV (437 MW) and small-scale renewable hydropower (129 MW), with negligible wind (10 MW).
Libya continues to have minimal renewable penetration, with total installed capacity of just 9 MW, consisting almost entirely of solar PV.
Solar and wind dominate
Solar PV remains the dominant technology across North Africa, accounting for the largest share of installed capacity in all five markets. Egypt leads solar deployment with more than 3.2 GW, followed by Morocco and Tunisia.
Wind energy is concentrated in Egypt and Morocco, which together account for nearly all regional capacity, with limited additions in Tunisia.
CSP deployment is limited to Morocco, which hosts 540 MW of capacity through the Noor solar complex, while Egypt and Algeria maintain small installations.
Transition pathways
In 2025, Morocco led the region in renewable energy share, with 39.6 percent of its installed capacity made up of renewable sources.
Egypt is scaling rapidly through utility-scale solar and wind projects, increasing its renewable share to 14.6 percent, while Tunisia’s share rose to 16.6 percent.
Algeria and Libya remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels with renewables at 2.1 percent and 0.5 percent share respectively, according to the IRENA report.
(Reporting by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)
Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.
