Wind and solar power generated almost one-tenth of global electricity in the first half of 2020, according to a new report by UK think-tank Ember.
Electricity output from wind and solar was 14% higher in the first six months of this year, compared with last year, at 1129 terrawatt-hours up from 992TWh in 2019.
That means wind and solar’s share of global electricity has risen to 9.8% in the first half of 2020 from from 8.1% last year, the reports said.
Ember said it had analysed 48 countries representing 83% of global electricity production.
Wind and solar delivered 42% of Germany’s electricity in the period and 33% in the UK, it said.
In the EU, 21% of power came from the two technologies, while 13% was supplied in Turkey, 12% in the US and 10% each in China, India, Japan and Brazil, the report said.
Coal generation fell 8.3% in the first six months of 2020, compared with the same period last year.
Ember said this drop was because electricity demand fell globally in the first half of the year because of Covid-19 and because of the increase in wind and solar output.
Coal delivered 33% of global power in the first six months of 2020.
But, Ember warned that coal needs to fall by 13% each year this decade to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius Paris Agreement target.
Ember senior electricity analyst Dave Jones said: “Countries across the world are now on the same path – building wind turbines and solar panels to replace electricity from coal and gas-fired power plants.
“But to keep a chance of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees, coal generation needs to fall by 13% every year this decade.
“The fact that, during a global pandemic, coal generation has still only fallen by 8% shows just how far off-track we still are.
“We have the solution, it’s working, it’s just not happening fast enough.”