Global Renewables Surpass Coal for First Time in History to Become Largest Source of Electricity Generation

At 10,730 terawatt-hours, the threshold was crossed. For the first time since the inception of the modern power grid, renewable energy sources generated more electricity globally than coal in 2025. The data, compiled in the latest global reviews from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the energy think tank Ember, confirms that wind, solar, hydropower, and other renewables captured 33.8% of the global power mix, edging out coal's 33.0%.[1][2]

This crossover represents a structural node in the global energy transition rather than a temporary anomaly. Solar photovoltaics acted as the primary engine for this shift, adding an unprecedented 636 terawatt-hours of generation in a single year—enough to meet 75% of the net increase in global electricity demand.[1][4]

The expansion of solar capacity is reshaping grid operations worldwide. The IEA projects that solar generation will grow by another 600 terawatt-hours in 2026, matching its record expansion and positioning it to overtake wind as the second-largest renewable source behind hydropower.[2][6]

The evidence supporting this milestone is robust, though it carries minor statistical margins. The data from Ember relies on generation figures from 91 countries representing 93% of global demand, interpolating the remainder based on historical trends. While the margin between renewables and coal is narrow—just 0.8 percentage points—the upward trajectory of clean energy is unambiguous.[1]

Hydropower remains the largest single component of the renewable mix, but its output has been increasingly volatile. Severe droughts in 2024 and early 2025 suppressed hydro generation across several continents, forcing solar and wind to carry the entirety of the renewable sector's growth to push past coal.[2]

However, the evidence regarding a rapid absolute decline in fossil fuels remains weak. While renewables are now the largest single source of power by share, total global electricity demand is surging. Driven by industrial expansion, the electrification of transport, and the proliferation of energy-intensive data centers, global power demand is forecast to grow by 3.6% in 2026 and 3.8% in 2027.[2][3]

Because overall consumption is expanding so rapidly—projected to reach 30,700 terawatt-hours by 2027—the absolute volume of coal burned for power has not yet entered a steep decline. Coal-fired generation dropped by a marginal 0.6% in 2025, and the IEA forecasts it could actually increase by 1.4% in 2026.[1][3]

This persistence of coal is heavily localized and highly sensitive to market shocks. In the United States and parts of Europe, higher natural gas prices—exacerbated by supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz—have prompted utilities to switch back to coal to maintain baseload reliability and control costs.[2][5]

Asia remains the only region where coal still exceeds renewables, accounting for 82% of global coal generation. Yet even there, the infrastructure is shifting rapidly. China contributed more than half of the global increase in solar generation in 2025, and India saw its combined solar and wind output rise by over 25% in the first half of 2026.[1][3]

The downstream consequence of this dynamic is a plateau in power-sector emissions rather than a sharp drop. Global carbon emissions from electricity generation remained flat in 2025 and are forecast to rise by roughly 1% in 2026 before leveling off again as clean energy deployment accelerates further.[2][6]

Grid operators are now navigating the physical complexities of integrating massive volumes of variable renewable energy. The rapid deployment of utility-scale battery storage—which added roughly 110 gigawatts of capacity globally in 2025—is becoming the critical infrastructure required to shift solar generation from midday peaks to evening demand hours.[1][2]

Ultimately, the data indicates that clean energy is no longer an alternative supplement but the foundational layer of new power infrastructure. While the complete displacement of fossil fuels remains constrained by rising demand and grid flexibility limits, the era of coal as the dominant force in global electricity has definitively ended.[1][4][7]