Renewable energy has become the main source of electricity generation in the first half of this year.

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.

Solar and wind generation outpaced the growth in global electricity demand in the first half, resulting in a small decline in both coal and gas, compared to the same period last year, according to the data from Ember. The new analysis revealed that record solar growth and steady wind expansion are reshaping the global power mix, as renewables overtake coal for the first time on record.

“We are seeing the first signs of a crucial turning point,” said Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior electricity analyst at Ember. “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 per cent in the first half of 2025, adding 369TWh compared to the same period last year. Solar alone met 83 per cent of the rise, thanks to record generation growth in absolute terms (306TWh, an increase of 31per cent year-on-year).

Coal fell by 0.6 per cent and gas by 0.2 per cent, only partly offset by a small rise in other fossil generation, for a total decline of 0.3 per cent, and as a result, global power sector emissions fell by 0.2 per cent.

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. China remained the leader in clean energy growth, adding more solar and wind than the rest of the world combined, helping to cut China’s, admittedly very high, fossil generation by 2 per cent in the first half of 2025.

India was a standout producer, with a record solar and wind expansion, combined with lower demand, driving down fossil fuels in the country, with coal falling 3.1 per cent and gas 34 per cent.

However, 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.

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