The Klettwitz Nord solar energy park near Klettwitz, Germany. Renewables supplied more than 5,000 terawatt hours of electricity globally in the first half of 2025.Matthias Schrader/The Associated Press
Renewable energy sources generated more electricity than coal globally for the first time in the first half of 2025, driven by rapid growth in China and India, a report by think tank Ember showed on Tuesday.
Curbing coal power generation, which emits around double the amount of carbon dioxide as gas generation, is regarded as vital by most scientists to meeting global climate targets.
Renewables, such as wind and solar, supplied 5,072 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity globally between January and June, surpassing coal’s 4,896 TWh, Ember said.
“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.”
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Global electricity demand increased 2.6 per cent, or 369 TWh, in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, which was more than met by a 306 TWh increase in solar power and a 97 TWh in wind power output.
The shift to renewables was driven largely by China and India. China, the world’s largest electricity consumer, reduced fossil-fuel generation by 2 per cent while its solar and wind generation grew by 43 per cent and 16 per cent respectively, the Ember report said.
In India there were increases in wind and solar generation of 29 per cent and 31 per cent respectively, which helped the country reduce coal and gas use by 3.1 per cent, the report showed.
Fossil-fuel generation, however, rose in both the United States and European Union during the same period, as stronger demand growth and weaker wind and hydropower output forced greater reliance on coal and gas.
In the U.S., coal generation rose by 17 per cent as gas generation fell by 3.9 per cent while in Europe gas-fired power generation rose by 14 per cent and coal by 1.1 per cent, the report said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a climate-change sceptic, earlier this year signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production and last month also pledged support for coal-fired power plants.