Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025

The report 'Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025' by Ember analyzes global electricity generation from January to June 2025. It finds that solar and wind growth exceeded global demand growth, leading to renewables overtaking coal's share in the global electricity mix for the first time on record and causing power sector CO2 emissions to plateau.

• In the first half of 2025, solar and wind generation grew enough to exceed the total increase in global electricity demand. Global demand rose by 369 TWh (+2.6%), while solar and wind combined grew by 403 TWh (306 TWh from solar and 97 TWh from wind). Solar alone accounted for 83% of the demand increase.
• Renewables surpassed coal in the global electricity mix for the first time on record during the first half of 2025. Renewables' share rose to 34.3% (5,072 TWh), while coal's share fell to 33.1% (4,896 TWh).
• Solar generation experienced its fastest absolute growth on record in the first half of 2025, increasing by 306 TWh (+31%) and raising its global electricity share from 6.9% to 8.8%. Solar capacity additions reached a new high of 380 GW in the first six months of 2025, a 64% increase over the same period in 2024.
• Global power sector CO2 emissions fell slightly by 12 MtCO2 (-0.2%) to 6,963 MtCO2 in the first half of 2025. This plateau was driven by emissions declines in China (-46 MtCO2) and India (-24 MtCO2), which offset increases in the US (+33 MtCO2) and the EU (+13 MtCO2).
• China was the primary driver of global clean energy growth in the first half of 2025, accounting for 55% of the global increase in solar generation, 82% of the rise in wind generation, and 73% of nuclear growth. This led to a decrease in China's fossil fuel generation and power sector emissions (-1.7%).
• In the United States, clean energy growth did not keep pace with a 76 TWh (+3.6%) increase in electricity demand. This gap, combined with a gas-to-coal switch driven by higher gas prices, led to a 51 TWh (+17%) increase in coal generation and a 4.3% rise in power sector emissions.
• The European Union saw strong solar growth (+24%), but overall emissions rose by 4.8% because unfavorable weather led to declines in wind (-8.5%) and hydro (-17%) generation. These shortfalls were offset by an increase in gas-fired generation, which rose by 25 TWh (+14%).
• India's electricity demand growth was unusually low at 1.3% (+12 TWh) due to fewer heatwaves in May and June. Despite this, clean sources grew by 40 TWh (+20%), leading to a 3.1% fall in coal generation and a 3.6% decrease in power sector emissions.

APA

Wiatros-Motyka, M., & Rangelova, K. (2025). Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-2025-PDF.pdf

Chicago

Wiatros-Motyka, Małgorzata, and Kostantsa Rangelova. Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-2025-PDF.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wiatros-Motyka |first1=Małgorzata |last2=Rangelova |first2=Kostantsa |title=Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 |publisher=Ember |date=7 October 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-2025-PDF.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wiatrosmotyka2025global, author = {Wiatros-Motyka, Małgorzata and Rangelova, Kostantsa}, title = {{Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-2025-PDF.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }