New analysis shows that record solar growth and steady wind expansion are reshaping the global power mix, as renewables overtake coal for the first time on record.
According to global energy think-tank Ember, solar and wind outpaced the growth in global electricity demand in the first half of 2025, resulting in a very small decline in both coal and gas compared to the same period last year.
“We are seeing the first signs of a crucial turning point,” Ember senior electricity analyst Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka said.
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“Solar and wind are now growing fast enough to meet the world’s growing appetite for electricity. This marks the beginning of a shift where clean power is keeping pace with demand growth.”
Global electricity demand rose 2.6% in the first half of 2025, adding 369TWh compared to the same period last year. Solar alone met 83% of the rise, thanks to record generation growth in absolute terms (306TWh, +31% year-on-year).
Solar and wind grew quickly enough to meet rising demand and start to replace fossil generation. Coal fell by 0.6% (-31TWh) and gas by 0.2% (-6TWh), only partly offset by a small rise in other fossil generation, for a total decline of 0.3% (-27TWh). As a result, global power sector emissions fell by 0.2%.
For the first time ever on record, renewables generated more power than coal. Renewables supplied 5,072TWh of global electricity, up from 4,709TWh in the same period in 2024, overtaking coal at 4,896TWh, down 31TWh year-on-year.
The 0.3% (-27TWh) drop in fossil fuel generation was modest but significant, indicating that wind and solar generation are growing quickly enough that in some circumstances they can now meet total demand growth. As their exponential rise continues, they are likely to outstrip demand growth for longer and longer periods, cementing the decline of fossil generation.
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The world’s four largest economies—China, India, the EU and the US—continued to shape the global outcome.
China and India both saw fossil generation fall in the first half of 2025 as clean power growth outpaced demand. By contrast, fossil generation rose in the US and the EU. In the US, demand growth outpaced clean power, driving up fossil generation. In the EU, weaker wind and hydro output led to higher gas and coal generation.
