2025: Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal in Global Electricity Production—A Historic Milestone!

Ember and confirmed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), highlights an unprecedented shift in the global electricity system. The results were published in a series of reports between July and October 2025, from these two institutions specializing in monitoring the energy transition. Behind this symbolic victory, a complex and profoundly unequal reality between countries emerges.

Record growth in solar and wind amid rising demand

In 2025, global demand for electricity continued to grow, driven by the increased electrification of uses in transport, industry and residential areas. Despite this increase, renewable energies – mainly solar and wind – covered all of this additional demand, according to the think tank Ember. As a reminder, this is a center for applied research and strategic thinking. This allowed, for the first time, a measured but real drop in coal and gas-based production.

Solar power has established itself as the main driver of this dynamic, with growth of 33% compared to the first half of 2024. It covered 83% of the increase in overall demand, while wind power grew by 7%. This notable performance demonstrates that renewable technologies no longer remain marginal. But they are now proving capable of responding to the net increase in global consumption.

The analysis of Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, author of the reportEmberhighlights a structural change, reports The Guardian. “ Solar and wind are growing enough to meet the increase in demand. This is a major turning point “. This marks the beginning of the decoupling between economic growth and the use of fossil fuels.

This result also stems from the continued decline in solar costs. They have fallen by 99.9% since 1975, making this technology ultra-competitive. Solar power thus becomes the most developed energy in the world for the third year in a row. It is also the most deployed in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Asia and Africa.

Asia in the lead: China, India and emerging countries are driving the global transition

The rise of renewables observed in 2025 cannot be explained solely by technological or economic dynamics. It also reflects a profound geographic shift. The countries of the South, particularly Asian ones, are becoming the engines of the transition. According to data fromEmberChina alone added more renewable capacity than the rest of the world combined during the first half of the year. This led to a 2% drop in its production from fossil fuels. Despite increasing national energy demand.

At the same time, India has experienced a slowdown in its electricity demand. This favorable situation, combined with the installation of new solar and wind capacity, has enabled a marked reduction in the use of fossil fuels: –3.1% for coal and –34% for gas. This movement is not intended to be anecdotal. It demonstrates that investment in renewables allows a direct reduction of emissions even in countries heavily dependent on coal.

The report of theIEA confirms these dynamics. The agency predicts that global renewable capacity will double by 2030. With growth driven 80% by solar, mainly in Asia. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol says: “ China will remain the world's largest market for renewables. But India stands out as the second “.

Emerging countries like Pakistan or African nations like Nigeria or Algeria are also recording strong growth. It is fueled by massive imports of solar panels. In Pakistan, panel imports helped generate up to 17 GW of solar power in 2024. This represents a third of the national electricity capacity. This dynamic is shaking up the global energy map.

United States and European Union: trajectories in sharp contrast

Unlike Asia, Western powers experienced an opposite development in 2025, with an increase in the use of fossil fuels. In the United States, electricity demand has grown faster than renewable production. This actually led to a 17% rebound in coal-fired production over the half-year. National energy policy has largely contributed to this turnaround.

According to the analysis of Yale E360the Trump government has dismantled several support systems for clean energy. In particular via cuts in tax credits, regulatory blockages and reinforced incentives for oil and gas exploitation. L'IEA thus revised downwards its forecasts for the country. Instead of the 500 GW of new renewable capacity expected by 2030, only 250 GW is now anticipated. Additionally, investments in clean energy fell by 36% between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025.

In Europe, climatic conditions have disrupted renewable production. The continent has seen a marked decline in the output of hydroelectric dams. Let us also add low wind production, particularly in Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. This decline could not be fully offset by the progression of solar power. This led to a 14% increase in gas-fired generation and a 1.1% increase in coal, according to data fromEmber.

These trends reflect a continued reliance on fossil fuel backups in times of grid stress, and the current insufficiency of energy storage in Europe. They also underline the weight of political choices and the weather on the stability of the energy transition.

Inequalities, technical constraints and new challenges of global deployment

The rapid progression of renewable energies reveals structural inequalities and major technical challenges. The countries of the “sun belt” – Africa, South Asia, Latin America – benefit from favorable conditions for solar power. However, the nations of the “wind belt”, such as the United Kingdom or northern Europe, depend on often irregular winds. Solar power allows stable production during the day. And it becomes profitable very quickly, especially in countries where grid electricity is expensive or intermittent.

Economist Adair Turner, chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission, quoted by the BBCemphasizes that these regions can massively reduce their energy costs thanks to solar, by combining panels and batteries. The example of Nigeria, which installed 1.7 GW of solar capacity in one year – enough to power nearly 1.8 million European homes – illustrates this potential.

However, some rapid deployments are already problematic. In Afghanistan, the massive installation of solar water pumps is causing an alarming drop in the water table. A study by researcher David Mansfield, in partnership with satellite data company Alcis, estimates that some regions risk running out of water within five to ten years.

Another obstacle: the cost of wind power. It has only fallen by a third in ten years, compared to a fall of almost 100% for solar. Added to this are high interest rates, weighing on the profitability of projects.

Finally, the lack of long-term storage capacity remains a major obstacle. Current batteries cannot compensate for several weeks of low wind or solar production, making it necessary to maintain backup thermal power plants. The energy transition, although underway, therefore remains incomplete without structural innovations in network and storage management.