Solar and wind energy break their global production record in 2022

Coal continues to lead as the most used energy source worldwide for another year

Source: Colpisa

3,444 TWh out of a total of 28,510 TWh. This is the figure recorded by the solar panels and wind turbines spread across the planet, a record never before achieved and is slowly displacing fossil fuels from the global energy mix. However, coal (36% of the total) triples the figure generated by both renewable sources, which remains at 12%, according to Ember data published in the fourth edition of the Global Electricity Review.

Despite the good data, increasing by two percentage points, optimism has not overflowed. "It is encouraging, but it does not reveal the growing disparity in the adoption of renewable energies," says Damilola Ogunbiyi, director-general and special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and co-chair of UN-Energy.

Large blades and photovoltaic panels have not reached all countries equally. Access to and deployment of these new technologies is uneven and "we need to ensure that developing countries are not left behind and trapped in a high-carbon future," adds Ogunbiyi.

The differences are striking, with Africa accounting for just 4.6% of the total mix to Oceania's 21.61% in 2022. The way forward is to accelerate the pace of renewables and make renewable energy technology a global public asset. Strong policies that facilitate financing and improve global access to components and raw materials, along with geographic diversification of the supply chain, will solve some of the problems," explains Ajay Mathur, CEO of the International Solar Alliance.

After Oceania, Europe is one of the leading regions in the deployment and use of energy from the sun and wind, accounting for 16.1% of the energy mix in the Old Continent. North America and Asia are next in the rankings.

Wind and solar generation growth in 2022 covered an impressive 80% of the increase in global electricity demand. Despite the global gas crisis and fears of a return to coal, it was this increase in wind and solar that limited the increase in coal generation (+1.1%). Gas-fired electricity generation decreased very slightly (-0.2%) in 2022. Overall, "that means emissions from the power sector increased by 1.3% in 2022, reaching an all-time high," Ember's report notes.

However, last year's figures are still far from the targets set by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for 2030. According to their models, the electricity sector must go from being the one that emits the most emissions to being the first to achieve zero emissions by 2040 in order to achieve net-zero across the entire economy by 2050. This would mean that wind and solar would reach 41% of global electricity in 2030, up from 12% in 2022.

"The stage is set for wind and solar to achieve a meteoric rise to the top," notes Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior electricity analyst at Ember. "However, it all depends on the actions taken now by governments, businesses and citizens to put the world on a clean energy pathway between now and 2040," he adds.

Spain, a wind and solar paradise

The analysis carried out by this British think tank studies the energy data of 78 countries, "which represent 93% of the total world energy demand" -they state-, and among which Spain is included.

The information compiled in the report "reveals that 60 countries now generate more than 10% of their power through wind and solar," stress the pages of the fourth Global Electricity Review. "Change is coming fast," says Wiatros-Motyka.

A 180-degree turnaround in energy policy that has its base of operations in the Old Continent, since nine of the ten countries with the greatest weight in the wind and solar sector are European. Only Uruguay is the exception with 35.9% of energy coming from these renewable sources.

The EU roadmap for achieving net zero by 2050 is reflected in the Ember report. The EU generated 22% of its electricity from wind and solar power in 2022. Seven EU countries made about one-third or more of their electricity from wind and solar power in 2022, including Germany (32%), Spain (33%) and the Netherlands (32%).

In 2022, wind turbines installed on Spanish land produced 61.85 TWh, 20.2% more than a decade ago and a few tenths less than in 2021, a record year for the Spanish wind power sector.

With these figures, Spain is one of the leading European countries in the deployment of wind power technology, where almost 2 out of every 10 TWh are generated in Spanish wind farms. "Spanish onshore wind was a victim of its own success," Ember experts warn in the report. Although, they say, "the pace of construction in Spain has picked up again."

However, the big growth has come in solar power, which has gone from just 0.1 TWh in the early 2000s to 32.77 TWh in 2022.

The 'fossil' fall

Despite the growth of solar and wind energy, fossil fuels continue to lead energy production. Together, all clean sources of electricity (renewables and nuclear) accounted for 39% of the world's electricity, a new record. Despite this progress, coal power remains the largest source of electricity worldwide, producing 36% of global electricity in 2022.

Coal and other fossil fuels (mainly oil) increased to cover the remainder of the increase in electricity demand, as well as shortfalls in nuclear and gas generation. Coal increased by 108 TWh (+1.1%), reaching a record production of 10,186 TWh.

Trends between countries and regions varied significantly: coal fell in the US (-70TWh, -7.8%) in 2022 compared to the previous year, but rose in China, India, Japan and the European Union.

The 1.1% increase in coal-fired electricity "is in line with average growth over the past decade," the report notes. "A larger increase in coal generation could have been expected in 2022, given gas price increases and security of supply concerns," Ember's technicians note.

However, China's commitment to clean technologies has influenced the world total. "There is no doubt that China has led the global expansion of renewable energy. But at the same time, the country is accelerating the approval of coal projects," says Li Shuo, policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia.