Wind and solar reach a record 12% of global electricity in 2022: Report

Wind and solar reached a record 12 per cent of global electricity in 2022, up from 10 per cent in 2021, according to a report launched today by energy think tank Ember.

The report forecasts that from 2023 wind and solar will push the world into a new era of falling fossil generation, and therefore falling power sector emissions.

“In this decisive decade for the climrate, it is the beginning of the end of the fossil age,” said the lead author, Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, in a press statement.

“We are entering the clean power era,” Wiatros-Motyka added.

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The fourth annual Global Electricity Review from energy think tank Ember presents electricity data from 2022 across 78 countries, representing 93 per cent of global electricity demand. The open data and in-depth analysis provide the first accurate picture of the global electricity transition in 2022.

According to the report, solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity for the eighteenth year in a row, rising by 24 per cent year-on-year and adding enough electricity to power all of South Africa. Wind generation increased by 17 per cent in 2022, enough to power almost all of the UK.

“While inflation has impacted gas-based generation and resulted in its decline, it has also impacted the cost of the supply chain for solar and wind. Even then, wind and solar generation have crossed previous marks.

However, newer installations in the case of wind have recently been reported to be 78 GW by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), lower than the previous year and still the third highest in history. This optimistic turnout is good, but supply chain resilience, addressing bottlenecks around permits and clearances, and adding more grid capacity to absorb clean power as and when new electrons are ready to flow from new plants are some of the pivotal interventions needed to witness even higher annual installations, faster commissioning, and attractive supply chain pricing,” said Martand Shardul, Policy Director at GWEC-India.

The data reveals that over sixty countries now generate more than 10 per cent of their electricity from wind and solar. Together all clean electricity sources (renewables and nuclear) reached 39 per cent of global electricity, a new record high. Despite this progress, coal power remained the single largest source of electricity worldwide, producing 36 per cent of global electricity in 2022.