According to the latest data from the independent energy think tank Ember, in the first three quarters of 2025, the rapid growth of solar and wind energy has met global new electricity demand. This is the first time that fossil energy power generation has not grown since the epidemic. Ember predicts that fossil energy power generation will experience zero growth for the first time this year.
Data shows that solar and wind energy are not only expanding, but even outpacing new global electricity demand. Solar power generation increased by 498 TWh (+31%) year-on-year, exceeding the total solar power generation in 2024. Wind energy added 137 TWh (+7.6%). The two combined supplied 635 terawatt hours of clean electricity to the world, which was higher than the 603 terawatt hours of new global electricity consumption (+2.7%).
In the first three quarters of 2025, solar and wind energy accounted for 17.6% of global electricity, up from 15.2% in the same period last year. The total proportion of renewable energy, including hydropower, biomass, geothermal energy, etc., reached 43%, while fossil energy dropped to 57.1% (58.7% in the same period last year).
Renewable energy surpasses coal power for first time
In 2025, total renewable energy power generation will surpass coal power for the first time. At the same time, fossil energy power generation as a whole has come to a standstill. By the first three quarters of 2025, fossil energy power generation will decrease slightly by 0.1% (a decrease of 17 TWh). Ember believes this trend is driven by growth in clean electricity outpacing demand for electricity.
China and India are also driving this shift. China's fossil energy power generation decreased by 52 TWh (-1.1%), and new electricity demand was filled by clean energy, reflecting structural changes in the power system. India's fossil energy generation fell by 34 TWh (-3.3%), mainly due to record growth in solar and wind energy and a milder climate.
Solar energy becomes the biggest driving force
Solar energy has now become the biggest driver of global power transformation. In the first three quarters of 2025, its growth rate exceeds that of all other sources of electricity by more than three times.
Nicolas Fulghum, a senior data analyst at Ember, analyzed: "Solar energy has achieved record growth while fossil energy has stagnated, indicating that clean energy has become the driving force of the global power industry. Fossil energy, which has been growing, is now gradually entering a stage of stagnation and controlled decline. China, as the largest source of growth in fossil energy power generation, has undergone an obvious change, showing that the era of using fossil energy to meet new electricity demand is past."
In the first three quarters of 2025, global electricity demand grew by 2.7%, much lower than the 4.9% growth driven by last year's extreme heat wave. This year's milder weather has eased pressure on the grid, making it easier for clean electricity to meet demand gaps.
A turning point for the global power system is coming
Historically, apart from periods of major crises such as the pandemic and the global financial crisis, this year is the first time that clean energy growth has not only kept pace with, but even exceeded, electricity demand. If solar, wind and other clean power sectors can maintain this growth rate, 2025 may be an important turning point for global fossil energy power generation to peak.