Global Trends Trends in global electricity

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity trends in 2021, tracking progress against the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 pathway. While wind and solar reached a historic milestone of over 10% of global electricity, an unprecedented surge in electricity demand led to record-breaking coal generation and the largest absolute rise in power sector CO2 emissions ever recorded.

• Wind and solar generation reached a record 10.3% of global electricity in 2021, an increase from 9.3% in 2020 and more than double the 4.6% share held in 2015. Combined growth for these sources was 17% in 2021, with solar increasing by 23% and wind by 14%.
• Fifty countries achieved a wind and solar electricity share of over 10% in 2021, including all five of the world's largest economies: the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Denmark, Luxembourg, and Uruguay led globally with shares of 52%, 43%, and 47% respectively.
• Viet Nam experienced exceptional solar growth in 2021, increasing generation by 337% (+17 TWh) to become the world's 10th largest solar generator. This growth allowed Viet Nam to be the only Asian country to exceed its entire demand rise with new wind and solar, reducing coal's share from 55% to 52% and gas from 17% to 12%.
• Global electricity demand grew by 1,414 TWh between 2020 and 2021, a growth rate of 5.4%, the fastest since 2010. This increase was most pronounced in Asia, with China's demand in 2021 being 14% higher than in 2019.
• Global coal power generation hit a new record of 10,042 TWh in 2021, a 9.0% increase that surpassed the previous 2018 record by 2%. Coal accounted for 36.5% of global electricity. This rise occurred because wind and solar only met 29% of the 2021 demand increase, with coal alone meeting 59% of that rise.
• China and India both set new coal power records in 2021. China's coal generation rose by 466 TWh (9.5%), while India's rose by 125 TWh (11%), with coal's market share in India increasing from 72% to 74%.
• Power sector CO2 emissions rose by 7% (778 million tonnes) in 2021, the largest absolute rise ever recorded, bringing total emissions to over 12 billion tonnes of CO2. This contrasts with the IEA 1.5 degree pathway, which requires a 60% fall in power sector emissions between 2021 and 2030.
• Growth in clean electricity sources other than wind and solar stalled in 2021. Hydro generation fell by 2% due to dry conditions, particularly in China, while nuclear grew by 4% and bioenergy by 6%.

APA

Ember (2022). Global Trends Trends in global electricity. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/global-trends-ger2022/

Chicago

Ember. Global Trends Trends in global electricity. 2022. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/global-trends-ger2022/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Global Trends Trends in global electricity |date=30 March 2022 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/global-trends-ger2022/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2022global, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Global Trends Trends in global electricity}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/global-trends-ger2022/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }