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How Much Renewable Energy the World Makes — The Year Clean Power Overtook Coal, and Why the Counter Says 'est.'
Solar panels are catching the afternoon, wind turbines are turning, hydro dams are spilling, and together they now produce about a third of all the electricity on Earth. So how much renewable energy does the world really generate, is it true that clean power has overtaken coal, who adds it all up, and why does our counter wear an 'est.' badge instead of reading the world's clean grids live?
There is a number that, for the first time in a century, tells a story instead of just a quantity: how much of the world's electricity now comes from renewable sources. For about a hundred years the answer was "less than coal." In 2025 that stopped being true. This counter shows the world's clean-power output as a running daily total, and like the electricity and carbon counters beside it, it wears an est. badge — understanding why is the key to reading it honestly.
The number, and the milestone
In 2025, the world's renewable sources — solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy and the rest — generated 10,730 terawatt-hours of electricity, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026. That was:
- 33.8 per cent of all the world's electricity — about a third;
- roughly 340 megawatt-hours every second, spread evenly across the year;
- enough, for the first time since 1919, to overtake coal (33.0 per cent, about 10,476 terawatt-hours).
That crossover is the headline. Coal had been the single largest source of the world's power for roughly a century. The last time renewables out-produced it, the global electricity system was about 300 times smaller and renewables meant almost entirely hydropower. This time the engine was solar, which grew by a record 636 terawatt-hours in a single year — more new generation than any other source has ever added, and on its own enough to meet three-quarters of the world's entire growth in electricity demand.
How it sits next to the electricity counter
Running beside this one is a counter for all the world's electricity — about 31,750 terawatt-hours a year, ticking at roughly 1,006 megawatt-hours a second. This renewables counter ticks at about 340 megawatt-hours a second, which is close to a third of that. That is not a coincidence: it is the same total, with the clean slice pulled out. Watching the two side by side is the most honest way to feel what "a third of the world's power is now renewable" actually means.
What counts, and what doesn't
"Renewable" here means solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy and smaller sources like geothermal. Hydropower is still the largest single renewable source, but solar and wind are growing far faster and now drive almost all of the increase. Nuclear power is low-carbon but is not renewable, so it is not in this figure — add it, and low-carbon sources together supply more than 40 per cent of the world's electricity.
Where the figure comes from
The number is assembled, not read off a single meter. Ember, an independent energy think tank, pulls together national figures from sources like the US Energy Information Administration, Eurostat, the Energy Institute, the UN and national statistics offices, reconciles them onto a common basis, and publishes a free global dataset each year. Its 10,730-terawatt-hour figure for 2025 is corroborated independently by Carbon Brief, the International Energy Agency and every major outlet, which is what makes it a hard number rather than a guess.
Why it says "est."
There is no live meter on the world's renewable output, and renewables are especially variable — solar peaks at midday and disappears at night, wind rises and falls with the weather. What we do is take Ember's most recent verified annual figure and spread it evenly across the seconds of the year, then show how much has built up since midnight UTC. It is an honest yearly average made visible, not a live feed, and the est. badge says exactly that.
A turning point, not a finish line
It is worth being precise about what the milestone means. Renewables overtaking coal in the electricity mix is a real structural shift, and 2025 was the first year that the growth of clean power pushed fossil-fuel generation into reverse rather than just slowing its rise. But electricity is only part of total energy use — transport, heating and heavy industry still run largely on fossil fuels — and coal has not disappeared. This counter shows a genuine turning point; it does not claim the journey is over.
See the fleet behind it
A single figure hides the millions of panels and turbines making it. Open the solar fleet in Grid and the world's utility-scale solar farms appear on the map; the wind farms layer does the same for wind. This counter is the world's clean power as one ticking figure; Grid is the fleet that generates it, country by country.
Frequently asked questions
How much renewable energy does the world generate in a year?
About 10,730 terawatt-hours in 2025, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026 — the most recent full-year reported figure. That is solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy and other renewable sources added together, and it was 33.8 per cent of all the electricity the world generated. Spread evenly across the year it works out to roughly 340 megawatt-hours every second, so by the end of a day our counter has climbed to about 29 million megawatt-hours. It ticks at roughly a third of the rate of the all-electricity counter beside it — which is the point: this is the clean slice of the same total.
Is it true that renewables overtook coal?
Yes — and it is a genuine milestone. In 2025, for the first time in 100 years, renewable sources (33.8 per cent of the global mix) generated more electricity than coal (33.0 per cent, about 10,476 terawatt-hours). The last time renewables — then almost entirely hydropower — out-produced coal was 1919, when the world used about 300 times less electricity than it does now. Coal had been the single largest source of the world's power for roughly a century until this crossover, which was driven above all by the explosive growth of solar.
What counts as renewable here?
Solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, and smaller sources like geothermal. Hydropower is still the largest single renewable source worldwide, but solar and wind are growing far faster and are now driving almost all of the increase — in 2025 solar alone met about three-quarters of the world's entire growth in electricity demand. Nuclear power is low-carbon but is not counted as renewable, so it is not in this figure; if you add nuclear, low-carbon sources together supply more than 40 per cent of the world's electricity.
Is the counter a live reading of the world's clean grids?
No, and that is the whole reason for the 'est.' badge. No single meter reads the planet's renewable output in real time, and renewable generation is especially variable — solar peaks at midday and vanishes at night, wind rises and falls with the weather. What we do instead is take Ember's most recent verified annual figure and spread it evenly across the seconds of the year, then show how much has built up since midnight UTC. It is an honest yearly average made visible, not a live feed. The honest read is the leading figures and the rate, not the last digits rolling past.
Who measures it, and how reliable is the number?
Ember — an independent energy think tank — assembles it from national figures (the US Energy Information Administration, Eurostat, the Energy Institute, the UN, and national statistics offices such as China's), reconciles them onto a common basis, and publishes a free global dataset each year under an open licence. Its 10,730-terawatt-hour figure for 2025 is corroborated independently by Carbon Brief, the International Energy Agency and every major outlet, so it is a hard, well-agreed number rather than an estimate plucked from the air.
Does the milestone mean the energy transition is basically done?
No — it is one important marker, not a finish line. Renewables overtaking coal in the electricity mix is a real structural shift, and 2025 was the first year that the growth of clean power actually pushed fossil-fuel generation into reverse rather than just slowing its rise. But electricity is only part of total energy use — transport, heating and heavy industry still run largely on fossil fuels — and coal generation, while now below a third of the mix, has not disappeared. The counter shows a genuine turning point; it does not claim the journey is over.
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