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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Fiona Harvey Environment editor

Clean energy generation exceeded rise in global electricity demand in 2025

Rows of photovoltaic panels interspersed with rows of tea
Solar panels are underplanted with rows of tea bushes in Shaoxing, in China’s Zhejiang Province. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

All of last year’s growth in global electricity demand was met from renewable sources, while fossil fuel power generation remained flat, research has found, marking what many hope could become a turning point in the drive to phase out planet-heating fossil fuels.

Solar power generation rose by nearly a third in 2025, marking a new record and faster growth. In the decade from 2015, solar output grew tenfold, roughly doubling every three years, according to the thinktank Ember.

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