{"id":72120,"date":"2026-04-23T18:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=72120"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:50:10","slug":"clean-energy-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-04-2026\/clean-energy-surge","title":{"rendered":"Clean Energy Surge and Fossil Fuel Decline: Global Electricity Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus<\/strong><strong>: GS3\/Infrastructure; Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India, along with China, witnessed a <strong>historic shift in its power sector in 2025<\/strong>, where record growth in renewable energy led to a <strong>decline in fossil fuel-based electricity generation<\/strong>, marking a significant milestone in the global energy transition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Global Highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Solar as Primary Growth Driver: <\/strong>Solar energy met approximately 75% of global electricity demand growth in 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Renewables Overtake Coal<\/strong>: The share of renewables in global electricity generation reached a record 33.8%, surpassing coal (33.0%) for the first time in over 100 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fossil Fuel Stagnation:<\/strong> Fossil fuel-based power generation recorded a \u22120.2% change in 2025, signalling that aggregate fossil generation has effectively plateaued at the global level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India-Specific Findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fossil Generation Decline:<\/strong> India&#8217;s fossil fuel power generation fell by 3.3% in 2025 a significant departure from the sustained growth trend of previous years, indicating a structural shift in the electricity mix.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Renewable Surge<\/strong>: Renewable electricity generation grew by 24%, with solar overtaking hydropower to become India&#8217;s largest clean energy source for the first time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Record Solar Capacity Addition:<\/strong> India installed 38 GW of solar capacity in 2025\u00a0 surpassing the United States and ranking second globally behind China.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Global Significance:<\/strong> Alongside China, India&#8217;s clean energy scale-up played a decisive role in halting the growth of global fossil fuel generation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Factors Behind the Shift<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Favorable Climatic Conditions:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Good monsoon<\/strong>: Higher hydropower output<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Milder summer<\/strong>: Reduced electricity demand (less cooling load)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rapid Solar Deployment: <\/strong>Strong policy push and falling solar costs accelerated installations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges Ahead: Outlook For 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Weak Monsoon Prediction: <\/strong>IMD forecasts <strong>below-normal rainfall,<\/strong> that <strong>likely <\/strong>reduced <strong>hydropower generation, i<\/strong>ncreased <strong>groundwater pumping<\/strong> led to higher electricity demand, and higher use of <strong>air conditioning<\/strong> due to heat.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These could <strong>reverse gains<\/strong> and increase fossil fuel dependence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transmission Constraints<\/strong>: Price parity with fossil based electricity generation <strong>(One price) <\/strong>possible only if <strong>grid congestion is minimal<\/strong>. Otherwise, <strong>area-wise price differences (market splitting)<\/strong> may persist.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutional Resistance: <\/strong>Power exchanges fear <strong>loss of autonomy and revenue<\/strong>.<strong> Implementation complexity <\/strong>requires advanced algorithms, real-time coordination, and strong regulatory oversight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead: Market Coupling and \u2018One Grid, One Price\u2019 in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Currently, India has <strong>multiple power exchanges<\/strong>, and each exchange independently discovers electricity prices through bids. It leads to <strong>price differences for the same time slot<\/strong> across exchanges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Market coupling pools all buy and sell bids<\/strong> from different exchanges and determines:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <strong>uniform market-clearing price (MCP)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Optimal allocation of electricity across the grid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Market Coupling Enables \u2018One Grid, One Price\u2019?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Unified Price Discovery: <\/strong>All bids (buyers and sellers) are aggregated, and a <strong>single algorithm determines one price<\/strong> for the entire market. It eliminates price disparities across exchanges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Efficient Transmission Utilisation: <\/strong>Power flows are optimized across regions, and reduces <strong>congestion and bottlenecks<\/strong> in transmission corridors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improved Competition &amp; Transparency: <\/strong>Sellers compete in a <strong>larger, unified pool<\/strong>, and prevents market fragmentation and manipulation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost Reduction for DISCOMs: <\/strong>Eliminates arbitrage opportunities across exchanges. DISCOMs get access to the <strong>lowest available price nationally<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Better Renewable Integration: <\/strong>Renewable energy (solar\/wind) is variable. A unified market helps absorb surplus renewable power, and balance deficits across regions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/delhi\/clean-electricity-in-india-helps-decline-in-global-power-production-10647496\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India, along with China, witnessed a historic shift in its power sector in 2025, where record growth in renewable energy led to a decline in fossil fuel-based electricity generation, marking a significant milestone in the global energy transition. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Global Highlights <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Solar as Primary Growth Driver: Solar energy met approximately 75% of global electricity demand growth in 2025. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Renewables Overtake Coal: The share of renewables in global electricity generation reached a record 33.8%, surpassing coal (33.0%) for the first time in over 100 years. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Fossil Fuel Stagnation: Fossil fuel-based power generation recorded a \u22120.2% change in 2025, signalling that aggregate fossil generation has effectively plateaued at the global level. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-04-2026\/clean-energy-surge \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72122,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72120\/revisions\/72122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}