BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Almost a third of global electricity generation came from renewables last year, according to an analysis. The growth in solar and wind power led to the 30 percent mark being exceeded for the first time in 2023, according to a report published on Wednesday by the think tank Ember. Since 2000, the share of renewables has risen from 19 percent, mainly due to increasing wind and solar energy. While their share of global electricity generation was 0.2 percent in 2000, it reached a high of 13.4 percent in 2023, the authors added. Another renewable energy source is hydropower, for example.

According to the data, solar power also grew the fastest last year. However, electricity generation from hydropower fell to a five-year low, due to droughts in China and elsewhere. According to the authors, this deficit was offset by an increase in coal-fired power generation - which in turn led to a one percent increase in global emissions in the electricity sector. According to the study, coal-fired power generation was increased primarily in four countries that were severely affected by droughts: China, India, Vietnam and Mexico.

For their analysis, the experts used various data on gross electricity generation, for example from the EU statistics office Eurostat or the Energy Information Administration (EIA)./rdz/DP/zb