Mark exceeded

30 percent of the world’s electricity comes from renewables

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Alberto Masnovo)

According to an analysis, almost a third of global electricity generation was generated from renewable energies last year. The growth in solar and wind power led to the 30 percent mark being exceeded for the first time in 2023, according to a report published on Wednesday by the think tank Ember. 

In 2000, the share of renewables was 19 percent, since then it has grown primarily due to increasing wind and solar energy. While their share of global electricity generation was 0.2 percent in 2000, it peaked at 13.4 percent in 2023, the authors write. Another renewable energy source is hydropower, for example.

More electricity from coal in China, India, Vietnam and Mexico
Solar power also grew the fastest last year. However, electricity generation from hydropower fell to a five-year low, due to droughts in China and other countries. This deficit was offset by an increase in coal-fired power generation - which in turn led to a one percent increase in global emissions in the electricity sector. According to the report, coal-fired power generation was increased primarily in four countries that were severely affected by droughts: China, India, Vietnam and Mexico.

For their analysis, the experts used various data on gross electricity generation, for example from the EU statistics office Eurostat or the Energy Information Administration (EIA).