Renewables met 100% of the rise in global electricity demand in the first half of 2022, preventing a possible 4% increase in power generation from coal and gas as well as avoiding $40 billion in fuel costs and 230 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, Ember's Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights report revealed Wednesday.
The report analyzes electricity data from 75 countries representing 90% of the global electricity demand and compares to the first six months of 2022 and 2021.
Global electricity demand grew 389 terawatt-hours, or 3%, in the first half of 2022, while electricity generation from wind, solar and hydro increased by 416 terawatt-hours, or 12%, slightly exceeding the rise in electricity demand.
The electricity generation from wind and solar rose by 300 terawatt-hours and met 77% of the growth in global electricity demand in the first half of 2022, while hydro met the remainder.
In China, the rise in wind and solar generation alone met 92% of its electricity demand rise, it was 81% in the U.S., while 23% in India.
"Wind and solar are proving themselves during the energy crisis," said Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior analyst at Ember. "The first step to ending the grip of expensive and polluting fossil fuels is to build enough clean power to meet the world's growing appetite for electricity."
With the growth of renewable power generation, fossil fuel generation remained almost unchanged during the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of last year.
Power generation from coal dropped by 36 terawatt-hours and from gas by 1 terawatt-hour. This decrease offsets a slight increase in other fossil fuels of 42 terawatt-hours, mainly oil.
Electricity generation from coal in the European Union rose 15% in the same period to cover a shortfall in nuclear and hydro generation, while it increases by 10% in India due to a sharp rebound in electricity demand.
The rises in global power generation from coal were offset by falls of 3% in China and 7% in the U.S.
Power sector emissions
Global carbon dioxide power sector emissions were unchanged in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of last year, although the global electricity demand grew.
Despite the halt in fossil generation in the first half of 2022, coal and gas generation increased in July and August, leaving open the possibility that power sector carbon dioxide emissions in 2022 may rise, following last year's all-time high.
"We cannot be sure if we have reached peak coal and gas in the power sector," Wiatros-Motyka said.
"Global power sector emissions are still pushing all-time highs when they need to be falling very quickly. And the same fossil fuels pushing us into a climate crisis are also causing the global energy crisis. We have a solution. Wind and solar are homegrown and cheap and are already cutting both bills and emissions fast."