This is an extract from a recent report “Global Electricity Review 2025” by EMBER. This extract specifically focuses on China and the United States.

China

China’s electricity demand continued to grow – by 6.6% in 2024 (+623 TWh), down only slightly from 6.9% in 2023. Demand growth was given a temporary boost in 2024: hotter temperatures contributed significantly to higher cooling demand in the summer months, and January and February showed a rebound in industrial demand from lower levels in 2023, as the last Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in early 2023. 81% of the demand growth was met with the rise in clean generation – wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy generation all rose. Wind and solar generation combined met more than half of the increase in electricity demand. Just 18% of the increase in demand was met with the rise in coal generation. 

The biggest change in China’s electricity generation compared to 2023 was the continued explosive growth of solar. Solar generation was up 250 TWh (+43%) in 2024 compared to 2023, which had itself recorded an increase of 37% compared to 2022. Also of note was the rebound in hydro generation, which was up 130 TWh (+11%) in 2024 as the drought conditions of 2023 eased. China had the world’s largest increase in coal generation in 2024 (+110 TWh, +1.9%), but this was less than a third of the increase in 2023 (+341 TWh, +6.3%). This lower level of growth is significant given the impact of heatwaves on increasing demand in 2024. Solar’s increase of 250 TWh was more than twice as large as the rise in coal. In 2024, China’s solar growth accounted for 53% of total global solar growth, while China’s 106 TWh of wind growth was 58% of the global total.

Electricity demand in China has increased sevenfold from 2000 (1,347 TWh) to 2024 (10,066 TWh). Only 30% of the demand rise from 2000 to 2015 was met with rising clean electricity (and 70% from fossil sources). But since 2015, over half (53%) was met with clean electricity (and 47% from fossil sources). Wind and solar generation has tripled over the past five years, from 629 TWh in 2019 to 1,826 TWh in 2024. Coal’s share has been falling – from 70% in 2015 to 58% in 2024 – even as absolute coal generation set a new record in 2024, 45% higher than in 2015. Total power sector emissions rose 2.2% to 5,640 MtCO2 in 2024, lower than the average annual growth between 2019 and 2023 of 3.9%. Forecasts suggest that China is approaching the tipping point on coal generation and that peak emissions are on the horizon. China accounted for 39% of global power sector emissions in 2024.

China plays an outsized role in the global electricity transition. It has over half of the world’s coal-fired installed capacity, and is simultaneously home to over 80% of the global solar manufacturing industry. China dominates the global growth in wind and solar generation, accounting for 54% in 2024, but also the global growth in coal generation, accounting for 74%. Clean power made up 38% (3,836 TWh) of China’s electricity mix in 2024, just below the global average of 41%. Hydro was the largest single source of clean power at 13.5% (1,356 TWh). China’s wind and solar generation hit a new record share of 18% (1,826 TWh) in 2024, remaining above the global average of 15% and overtaking the US for the first time. China‘s clean share and wind and solar share both remain above the average clean share and wind and solar share in Asia. China’s coal share of 58% (5,864 TWh) remains just above the regional average of 54% and significantly above the global average of 34%. In 2024, China was responsible for 55% of global coal generation.

China’s carbon intensity of electricity generation was 560 gCO2/kWh, down 4.1% from 2023, but still significantly above the global average of 473 gCO2/kWh due to its dependence on coal. China’s per-capita electricity demand of 7.1 MWh was almost double the global average (3.8 MWh) and the regional average (3.7 MWh). China’s demand per capita was five times India’s in 2024. Due to its growing per capita demand and high reliance on coal generation, China’s per capita power sector emissions (4 tCO2) remained at more than double the global average of 1.8 tCO2 and the average in Asia of 2.1 tCO2. 

United States

Electricity demand in the United States grew by 3% (+128 TWh) in 2024, caused partly by heatwaves over the summer months and partly as a rebound from a milder summer in 2023 when demand decreased by 1.3% (-55 TWh). The demand rise was predominantly met with higher solar, wind and gas generation, which also made up for a fall in coal generation (-22 TWh). 2024 saw the largest-ever increase in solar generation in the US (+64 TWh). This was the second largest increase of any country, after China. Significant capacity additions spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act have begun to feed through to generation increases. Wind generation rose as a result of improved wind conditions from 2023 as well as a moderate increase in wind capacity.

Gas generation in the US increased by 3.3% (+59 TWh). This was the largest rise in gas generation seen in any country in 2024 and more than half (57%) of the global increase in gas generation. Coal power has been in terminal decline in the US since its peak in 2007. Since then, coal power has fallen by two-thirds (-1,364 TWh). Coal fell below 15% of the US electricity mix for the first time in 2024. Coal power was predominantly replaced by an increase in wind and solar generation (+722 TWh since 2007) and gas generation (+968 TWh since 2007). Gas generation rose to record levels in 2024, doubling compared to 2007. The US has been responsible for 43% of the global increase in gas generation since 2015. The partial coal-to-gas switch meant that power sector emissions have not declined as fast as coal power. Since 2015, emissions have fallen by 18%, from 2,062 MtCO2 to 1,683 MtCO2 in 2024.

Wind and solar together have more than tripled (+527 TWh) in the US since 2015, generating 757 TWh of electricity in 2024. This continued growth meant that wind and solar overtook coal power in the US for the first time in 2024, generating 17% of the country’s electricity. After remaining largely flat for most of the 2010s, demand has risen in three of the last four years, at an average of 1.8% per year. The growth in clean electricity came only from solar and wind – bioenergy, nuclear and hydro generation were all lower in 2024 than in 2015. The United States generated 42% of its electricity from clean sources in 2024, in line with the global average. 17% of the country’s electricity was generated by wind and solar power, which was just above the global average (15%), but lower than China (18%). 58% of US electricity came from fossil fuels in 2024, which was in line with the global average of 59% despite coal’s significant decline. This was due to the country’s reliance on gas power, which supplied 43% of its electricity in 2024 (1,865 TWh). This was more than double the gas generation of all other G7 members combined.

The carbon intensity of US electricity generation was 384 gCO2/kWh – below the global average of 473 gCO2/kWh. Although the fossil share was similar to the global average, the US has a larger reliance on gas than coal, leading to carbon intensity. The United States was the country with the 11th highest electricity demand per capita (12.7 MWh) in 2024. Its demand per capita has remained consistently high and in 2024, reached its highest level since 2014. Its demand per capita is twice as high as that of the EU. As a result of high electricity demand, power sector emissions per capita were 4.9 tCO2, more than double the global average of 1.8 tCO2. 

Access the report here