​Wind and Solar Electricity Generation

Market Studies Department

Bloomberg NEF (BNEF), a strategic research provider, reports that the ​world’s wind and solar projects combined to meet more than a tenth of global electricity demand for the first time in 2021. Electricity demand, production from coal-fired power plants, and emissions surged in 2021 as the global economy regained its footing following the Covid-19 pandemic. With a production of approximately 3,000 terawatt hours of electricity, wind and solar accounted for 10.5% of global 2021 generation. Wind’s contribution to the global total increased to 6.8%, while solar climbed reached 3.7%. A decade ago, the two technologies accounted for far less than 1% of all global electricity production. In 2021, carbon-neutral energy sources accounted for 39% of total production, while hydro and nuclear projects met just over a quarter of the world's electricity needs. Since 2017, wind and solar have accounted yearly for maximum new power-generating capacity added to global grids. In 2021, they accounted for three-quarters of the 364 gigawatts of newly built capacities, including hydro and nuclear. Zero-carbon power accounted for 85% of the new capacity additions. “Renewables are now the default choice for most countries looking to add or even replace power-generating capacity,” said Luiza Demôro, head of energy transitions at Bloomberg NEF. “This is no longer due to mandates or subsidies, but because these technologies are becoming more competitively priced.” Solar continued to expand at a particularly fierce pace in 2021 in new capacity additions and new markets. Solar was half of global added capacity, standing at 182 GW. Its contribution to global grids topped 1,000 terawatt-hours for the first time. Solar has also become essentially ubiquitous. In nearly half of countries tracked by BNEF for capacity additions, solar was the top choice in terms of volume. At least 112 countries currently have a minimum of 1 MW of installed solar capacity.

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Despite the incredible inroads renewables have made, the Power Transition Trends report paints a stark picture of the heavy work remaining for the power system to address its role in climate change. As the global economy recovered from Covid-19 pandemic, electricity demand surged 5.6% year-on-year, putting new strains on existing infrastructure and fossil-fuel supply chains. Lower-than-expected production from hydro plants and higher natural gas prices helped put coal-fired power back in the spotlight in extra markets. Production from coal plants set records by jumping 8.5% from 2020-2021 – up to 750 terawatt-hours on a net basis - to 9,600 terawatt-hours. Over 85% of the generation came from 10 countries, with China, India, and the US accounting for 72%. 

​Countries continued to complete the construction of new coal plants in 2021, and coal still accounts for the single largest share of global capacity at 27%. One small bright spot: The speed at which new coal is being added to the grid is slowing. Only 13 GW of new coal-fired capacity was completed in 2021, down from 31 GW in 2020 and 83 GW in 2012. The result was a proportionate rise of 7% in global carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector in 2021 compared to 2020. Energy sector emissions set a new high of 13,600 megatons of carbon dioxide, according to BNEF estimates. As part of Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the worldwide growth of renewables, the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) tendered the long-awaited next round of the National Renewable Energy Plan in September 2022. The plan comprises 1.8 GW of wind projects and 1.5 GW of solar PV to add to the 3.28 GW of renewable energy projects already built or awarded. The NREP project tenders have restarted, with the tendering process unified under SPPC. That will accelerate the Kingdom’s adoption of renewable energy in its energy mix to achieve the Vision 2030 targets on time and thus provide the local demand on which a local manufacturing ecosystem can be based.