The importance of renewable integration into grids came to the forefront in 2025. New challenges in stability, storage, artificial intelligence demand and policy changes defined a year that tested whether power systems can become reliable, flexible and equitable in a net-zero world.
Key advances
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Global renewable electricity generation was greater than coal generation for the first time1.
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Investment and research into long-duration energy storage technology have become key to global grid decarbonization projects4.
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Surging artificial intelligence demand is leading to investments in firm, low-carbon power8,9.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and ClimateWorks Foundation for the support of research at the Deep Energy and Climate Policy Lab.
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He, G. Renewable integration and AI demand reshaped power grids in 2025. Nat. Rev. Clean Technol. 2, 13–14 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-025-00136-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-025-00136-z
