Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights

This report by Ember analyzes global electricity data from 75 countries to assess the energy transition in the first half of 2022 (H1-2022). It finds that renewable energy growth fully met the increase in global electricity demand during this period, preventing a rise in fossil fuel generation and associated CO2 emissions.

• In the first half of 2022, renewable energy growth completely offset the 3% increase in global electricity demand, which rose by 389 TWh to a total of 13,393 TWh. Wind and solar specifically met 77% of this growth, while hydro met the remainder, resulting in global fossil fuel generation remaining almost unchanged.
• The expansion of wind and solar power in H1-2022 provided significant economic and environmental benefits by preventing a 4% increase in fossil fuel generation. This avoided approximately $40 billion USD in fuel costs and 230 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 emissions.
• Despite the stability in the first half of the year, global power sector CO2 emissions may still reach a record high in 2022. Data from January to August shows a 1.7% (133 Mt) increase in emissions compared to the previous year, driven by heatwaves and droughts in China's Sichuan province that reduced hydro surplus and increased coal and gas use.
• Regional analysis for H1-2022 shows varying levels of renewable integration: wind and solar met 92% of electricity demand growth in China, 81% in the United States, and 23% in India. In China, this contributed to a 3% fall in coal generation, while in India, coal generation rose by 10% due to a post-pandemic demand rebound.
• The European Union experienced a temporary increase in coal generation in H1-2022 to cover a 91 TWh shortfall in hydro and nuclear power. Hydro generation fell by 25% due to severe drought, and nuclear generation fell by 12% because of German plant closures and outages in France.
• In the United States, electricity demand grew by 4.2% in H1-2022, significantly higher than the 11-year average of 0.5%. While fossil generation rose by 1%, coal power fell by 7% as gas generation increased by 5.6%.

APA

Wiatros-Motyka, M., & Jones, D. (2022). Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Report-Ember-Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-1.pdf

Chicago

Wiatros-Motyka, Małgorzata, and Dave Jones. Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights. Ember, 2022. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Report-Ember-Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wiatros-Motyka |first1=Małgorzata |last2=Jones |first2=Dave |title=Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights |publisher=Ember |date=5 October 2022 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Report-Ember-Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wiatrosmotyka2022global, author = {Wiatros-Motyka, Małgorzata and Jones, Dave}, title = {{Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Report-Ember-Global-Electricity-Mid-Year-Insights-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }