Key highlights
- Wind and solar have seen the most significant growth over the past two decades.
- Growth in wind and solar has been driven by falling costs, policy support, and public demand for cleaner energy sources.
- Natural gas has seen significant growth due to its flexibility as a fuel for power generation.
As of 2022, there were seven fastest-growing sources of electricity and these sources have been ranked by a British think tank, Ember in its 2023 Global Electricity Review report, according to their level of demand. According to Ember, wind and solar accounted for almost no generation in the year 2000, growing over the past two decades to reach 12% in 2022.
The Review states that solar power has made a sprint start, as the fastest-growing source of electricity for the last 18 years, closely followed by wind power.
The fastest-growing sources of electricity as of 2022 are as follows:
Solar
As of 2022, solar power had a 4.5% share in global electricity generation. According to the Review, solar provides clean power that can be deployed quickly and locally to the demand source. As such, together with wind, it will form the backbone of the future electricity system by providing nearly 70% of global electricity by 2050. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), new solar power produces the cheapest electricity in history.
Wind
As of 2022, wind power had a 7.6% share in global electricity generation. According to the review, wind generation, alongside solar, is key to reducing emissions in the electricity sector. Both sources will form the backbone of the future electricity system by providing nearly 70% of global electricity by 2050. So, a rapid scale-up is required in this decade.
Hydropower
In 2022, hydropower had a 16.1% share in global electricity generation. According to the review, hydropower is the largest source of clean power, but it also provides flexibility to help accommodate the large influx of wind and solar.
Coal
China produces by far the most electricity from coal of any country, generating 5,420 Terawatt hours (TWh) of coal power (61% of its electricity mix). This is four times more than the second largest; India, at 1,363 TWh (74% of the mix). Kosovo has the largest share of coal in the power mix at 94% (10 TWh). As of 2022, coal had 1 35.7% share in global electricity generation.
Bioenergy
In the last two decades, bioenergy generation has increased 4.5 times, from 148 TWh in 2000 to 672 TWh in 2022. Consequently, the share of bioenergy in the global power mix went from below 1% in 2000 to 2.4% in 2022. Countries that rely on bioenergy the most are Finland (19% of total generation) and the United Kingdom (11%).
Natural Gas
Natural gas is the second largest source of electricity worldwide, responsible for 22% of global electricity generation. The United States is the largest producer of electricity from gas at 1,695 TWh (39% of its electricity mix). This is more than three times larger than the next biggest generator Russia at 479 TWh (43% of its mix). Kuwait has the highest share of gas in the mix, with 99.9% (71 TWh) of its electricity from gas.
Nuclear
In 2022, nuclear power produced 9.2% of global electricity. According to the review, nuclear power capacity needs to increase significantly over the coming decades in line with growing electricity demand, but its share of global electricity generation is likely to remain the same as today.
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