US, Europe and China Face Funding Gap for 2030 Clean-Energy Buildout, McKinsey Says

A new McKinsey analysis finds that global deployment of photovoltaics, wind and other energy-transition technologies continues to accelerate, but not fast enough to stay on track for the 2030 targets set in Europe, the United States and China.

The consultants argue the issue is not a lack of projects—rather, many developments are stalling because financing is not keeping pace. McKinsey estimates that only about 15% of the plants and technologies needed to meet the Paris-aligned 2050 goals have been installed so far.

In 2025, global renewable capacity expanded by 585 GW, up 15% year on year, with solar PV leading the gains as costs continued to fall. Electric vehicle momentum also strengthened, with global EV sales rising 25% to around 17 million units. Despite these headline numbers, McKinsey notes that funding constraints are now affecting not only hydrogen and climate-neutral fuels, but also mature segments like solar and wind, partly as governments and corporates shift priorities.

McKinsey describes PV as the “key technology” of the transition, while emphasizing wide regional differences. China, for example, has added roughly 300 GW of new PV capacity since 2023. In Europe and the US, McKinsey says current trajectories still look insufficient for their 2030 targets, though short project lead times mean a catch-up remains possible.

Battery storage is expanding quickly, but McKinsey sees it as the largest swing factor—and still well below what’s required.

By 2030, the firm estimates additional storage projects of roughly 221 GW in Europe, 154 GW in the US and 123 GW in China will be needed. Even so, the report argues storage can generally be planned, permitted and built faster than alternatives such as nuclear plants or gas generation paired with carbon capture, and notes that over the past five years deployment has accelerated as the business case has become more established—both for utility-scale projects and for households pairing batteries with rooftop PV.