Wind and solar provided 12% of global electricity in 2022, a record in the shadow of coal

April 12, 2023

Wind and solar provided 12% of global electricity production in 2022, rising to a record high, but still overshadowed by coal, which remains the world’s largest source of electricity, according to a report by the think tank on Ember energy.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the gradual closure of Moscow’s gas pipelines and the subsequent surge in prices have prompted governments to rethink their energy policy to step up carbon-free energy.

Combined together, “all clean electricity sources (renewable and nuclear, editor’s note) reached 39% of world electricity, a new record”, the rest being covered by fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal), underline the authors of the report.

For its fourth annual “Global Electricity Review”, Ember drew on open electricity sector data from 78 countries representing 93% of global electricity demand.

In 2022, wind and solar power have done well, reaching “a record 12% of global electricity”, according to this report. It was 5% in 2015.

More than 60 countries get more than 10% of their power now. The European Union leads the way, with 22% electricity from renewable sources and 24% growth in solar compared to the previous year.

This breakthrough helped to limit the use of coal, which however increased by 1.1%, as demand for electricity continued to grow.

“Despite this progress, coal remained the world’s largest source of electricity, producing 36% of the world’s electricity in 2022,” the report said.

The continued use of gas and coal to meet electricity demand has had the corollary of “increasing (greenhouse gas) emissions to a new record”, by 12 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent. in 2022 (1.3%).

The report’s experts nevertheless consider that the year 2022 could be that of the “peak of emissions linked to the electricity sector and the last year of growth of fossil fuels” in this sector.

For 2023, they anticipate “a small decline in fossil generation (-0.3%), with larger declines in subsequent years as wind and solar deployment accelerates.”

“In this decisive decade for the climate, it is the beginning of the end of the fossil age”, estimates the analyst and co-author of the report, Ma?gorzata Wiatros-Motyka, quoted in the press release.