The world's top 27 utility-scale solar developers have made significant strides in 2023-2024, collectively adding nearly 50 GWac of new capacity. This marks a 50% growth in the total capacity from the 100 GWac installed by these developers at the close of 2022.
China continues to dominate the utility-scale solar market, holding more capacity than the next six countries combined. However, India, ranked third, is rapidly closing the gap. Indian developer Tata Power has jumped nine places to become the seventh-largest developer, while Saudi Arabian ACWA Power has broken into the top ten for the first time. NTPC of India has also entered the rankings, following the establishment of its dedicated renewables division.
Significant progress in the U.S. and Spain has led to a rise in American and European developers' rankings. Notably, NextEra Energy has taken the top spot, increasing its capacity by 74% since 2022, largely due to new plants commissioned by its subsidiary Florida Power & Light. Invenergy, another U.S.-based developer, enters the top rankings for the first time. Spain's Iberdrola has also seen growth, moving up three spots due to its dynamic performance in its home market.
To rank highly, developers without large domestic markets have focused on international expansion. This strategy has propelled developers like Lightsource BP up the rankings, as well as EDF, TotalEnergies, and Baywa R.E., all of which have strengthened their portfolios through global projects.
As more developers sell operational projects or acquire them from others, multinational companies like France's Engie and Italy's ENEL have become more prominent owners.
Philip Wolfe, founder of Wiki-Solar, notes that the average project size offers insights into geographic differences. ACWA, for example, is developing large-scale projects in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, with an average size over 330 MW. Chinese and Indian companies typically work on projects around 100 MW, while European developers tend to focus on smaller projects, averaging between 20 to 30 MW.
For the full list of top developers, the most recent Wiki-Solar announcement provides detailed rankings. These figures reflect MWac delivered to the grid for projects larger than 4 MWac, and the actual capacity would be approximately 25% higher when measured by DC output (MWp).
