Renewables overtake coal in production worldwide

For the first time ever, according to the think tank Ember, production of renewable energy exceeded that of coal globally, showcasing the growing multilateral initiative for bolstering renewable production.

The Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant in Rhea County, Tennessee, Getty Images.

The think tank reported from the first half of 2025 that solar and wind growth exceeded demand, with power generation demand in these fields rising 109% in the past half-year. This was primarily fueled by wind growth, especially offshore wind turbines which have gained prominence globally, from China to the Virginia shorelines; in fact, solar demand growth rose 83%. On the contrary, coal generation actually fell 0.6% despite demand rising, reflecting the accelerating transfer of the energy supply from fossil fuels to renewables.

Quantitatively, renewables produced roughly 5,072 terawatt-hours (TWh), which for the first time exceeded that of coal, which produced approximately 4,896 TWh of energy.

China and India led the world in these gains in renewable energy production, with coal use and emissions falling while wind and solar met demand growth. The United States also contributed partially to this rise, but the recent environmental pushback from the Trump administration prevented further gains in renewable energy growth. Yet, both America and the European Union also grew fossil fuel generation as oil prices fall, demand rises, and the temporary halting of strengthening environmental programs.

Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior electricity analyst at Ember, responded in the press release by stating, "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. As costs of technologies continue to fall, now is the perfect moment to embrace the economic, social and health benefits that come with increased solar, wind and batteries."

This rampant shift is being fueled by falling costs for renewables, which has incentivized many countries like the previously mentioned China and India to invest billions into energy generation. In fact, according to the Carbon Tracker, "Coal developers risk wasting more than $600 billion because it is already cheaper to generate electricity from new renewables than from new coal plants in all major markets."