As the US-Israel war on Iran raises global concerns about energy security, a new report has found that the clean power sector is rapidly gaining ground and emerging as a solution for nations looking to reduce their reliance on oil and gas imports.
The world passed a significant turning point in 2025 as clean power generation rose faster than global demand for electricity, preventing an increase in fossil fuel generation, according to the study by London-based energy think tank Ember released on Tuesday.
Global clean power generation soared by 887 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, while overall demand for electricity increased by 849 TWh, Ember found in its annual global electricity review.
The shift also meant that renewables accounted for 34 per cent of the world’s total electricity generation last year, overtaking coal’s 33 per cent share for the first time in a century, the report said.
Global coal generation fell for the first time since 2020, marking the first time the carbon-intensive fuel has dropped below one-third of total global generation, it added.
“We have firmly entered the era of clean growth,” said Aditya Lolla, Ember’s interim managing director. “Clean energy is now scaling fast enough to absorb rising global electricity demand, keeping fossil generation flat before its inevitable decline. The momentum we are seeing is no longer just an ambition; it is becoming a structural reality.”
The global pivot towards clean electricity is largely being propelled by developments in China and India, the report noted.
For the past two decades, the two Asian giants have been the largest contributors to the global rise in fossil fuel use. However, in 2025, both countries saw record clean power additions that outpaced their electricity demand growth, leading to domestic declines in fossil fuel generation.
Fossil fuel power generation in China and India fell by 56 TWh and 52 TWh, respectively, last year. This marked the first time this century that fossil fuel generation has declined in both nations simultaneously, according to Ember.
Record-breaking growth in solar power was the primary driver of this shift, with global solar generation surging 30 per cent year on year in 2025, the fastest growth rate in eight years, the report found.
China continued to lead the global surge, accounting for more than half of the world’s increase in both solar capacity and generation.
In its new five-year plan released last month, Beijing set a target of raising the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to 25 per cent by 2030, up from 21.7 per cent in 2025.
Ember’s report also noted that the advancement of energy storage technologies – particularly the deployment of grid-scale batteries – is helping to further unlock the potential of solar power within the global energy mix.
By shifting midday generation to other hours of the day, storage is turning intermittent solar power into a reliable, round-the-clock supply, the report said.
The sustained growth in clean power is enabling a future less vulnerable to the costs and risks of energy imports, the report added.
“Clean energy is rapidly redefining the foundation of energy security in a volatile world,” Lolla said. “It is already helping countries reduce exposure to fossil fuel imports and costs while meeting rising electricity demand. The next step is to modernise grids and regulatory frameworks so power systems are ready to handle this new reality.”