Renewable sources overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity for the first time

According to data from Ember, in the first half of 2025 renewable sources became the world's largest source of electricity, when they overtook coal for the first time in history. The growth of solar and wind energy covered all of the increase in electricity demand and also contributed to a slight decline in the use of coal and gas:

China vs. the rest of the world

Overall view remains mixed. Developing countries, especially China, led the transition to clean energy, while richer nations such as the US and EU relied on fossil fuels more in the first half of 2025 than a year earlier:

Although China continues to build coal‑fired power plants, for which it is loudly criticized, it has increased installations of solar and wind sources more than the rest of the world combined. Thus, the growth of renewable sources outpaced the growth in electricity demand, and production from fossil fuels fell by 2%.

India reduces coal use

India also boosted solar and wind power generation in the first half of the year, thereby limiting production from coal and gas.

USA and EU: a return to fossil fuels

In contrast, according to Ember, the USA and EU recorded the opposite trend in 2025. In the USA, demand grew faster than production from clean sources, increasing reliance on gas and coal. In the EU, weak wind and hydro generation caused an increase in fossil production.

Solar energy drives the transition

According to Ember, this change is a pivotal breakthrough. Solar energy accounted for roughly 83% of the growth in global electricity demand in the first half of 2025, and its share in the global mix rose from 6.9% to 8.8%.

More than half of the world's solar production (58%) today comes from developing countries, which relatively benefit more from price declines. Panel prices have fallen by 99.9% since 1975. Africa is now experiencing a solar boom – panel imports have risen by 60%, with South Africa leading, while Nigeria, with 1.7 GW of solar capacity, has overtaken Egypt.