El informe Global Electricity Review 2026 de la organización Ember reveló que, por primera vez, la energía solar superó a la eólica a nivel mundial en 2025. Este crecimiento sin precedentes permitió que las fuentes de electricidad limpia crecieran lo suficiente como para cubrir toda la nueva demanda global de electricidad, evitando un aumento en la generación a partir de combustibles fósiles.
La generación solar alcanzó los 2.778 TWh, un incremento récord de 636 TWh respecto a 2024 (+30%). Desde 2015, cuando apenas se producían 256 TWh, la energía solar se multiplicó por más de diez veces, duplicándose aproximadamente cada tres años.
Renewables above coal
For the first time in 100 years, renewable energies (33.8%, 10,730 TWh) surpassed coal (33.0%, 10,476 TWh) in the global electricity matrix. Electricity generated from coal fell by 63 TWh (-0.6%), representing the first decrease since the 2020 pandemic.
This structural change marks the beginning of an era in which clean energies are consolidated as the driving force of global electric growth.
The role of battery storage
The solar boom was accompanied by a record deployment of battery storage:
- In 2025, installed capacity increased by 46%, reaching about 250 GWh.
- Battery costs fell by 45% compared to 2024.
- 14% of the new solar generation was shifted to other times beyond noon.
Pioneer countries like Chile and Australia absorbed more than 50% of the new solar generation thanks to grid-level storage, which reduced spillage and lowered energy prices.
China and India: protagonists of change
The historical shift was driven by the two largest consumers of fossil electricity:
- China reduced its fossil generation by 56 TWh (-0.9%), the first decline since 2015. More than half of the global increase in solar energy was concentrated in this country.
- India decreased its fossil generation by 52 TWh (-3.3%), thanks to a record in solar and wind, strong hydroelectric production, and moderate demand.
Both countries, traditionally responsible for global fossil growth, recorded simultaneous declines for the first time this century.
Global impact
- Low-emission electricity generation increased by 887 TWh, surpassing the increase in demand (849 TWh).
- Solar energy covered 75% of the net increase in demand.
- Solar and wind together covered 99% of global electric growth.
- Fossil generation fell by 38 TWh (-0.2%), the fifth year this century without an increase in fossil fuels.
The Ember report concludes that the world is entering an era of clean growth, leaving behind the dependence on fossil fuels in the electricity sector. The abundance of renewable electricity is enabling the electrification of other sectors, such as transportation, and reducing vulnerability to global energy crises.
