Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

With the global energy system under strain, a new report has found that clean electricity is increasingly meeting growth in demand.

Clean power sources grew fast enough to meet all new electricity demand in 2025, thereby preventing an increase in fossil generation, according to the Global Electricity Review 2026 by London-based energy think tank Ember, released on Tuesday.

The report indicated that record growth in solar, especially in China and India, was a driving factor for clean energy generation rising faster than global demand for electricity.

The message from this report is clear: the transition to green energy has become an irreversible global trend. Clean electricity growth outpacing the increase in demand signifies that renewable energy has reached the inflection point at which it begins to replace traditional fossil fuels. This milestone reaffirms the growing certainty of the global energy transition.

What is particularly noteworthy is the remarkable vitality demonstrated by developing countries in this process. China has achieved leapfrog development in solar energy, leveraging large-scale deployment, an efficient implementation pace, and the advantage of a complete industrial chain. 

According to Ember's report, China accounted for more than half of the global increase in both solar capacity and solar generation in 2025. This pushed the share of solar and wind in China's generation mix to 22 percent, surpassing the OECD average of 20 percent. 

India also ramped up clean power deployment. Renewable generation growth doubled its previous record, and India installed more new solar capacity than the US for the first time. These facts clearly indicate that the core of the energy transition lies not in slogans, but in the ability to act and execute in the present.

However, in the face of the achievements of developing countries in the clean energy field, some Western commentators have persisted in prejudice and wariness, even concocting such narratives such as "China Shock 2.0," groundlessly politicizing and ideologizing normal industrial progress and market cooperation. 

These voices turn a blind eye to the fact that China has supplied vast quantities of cost-effective solar panels and other key components, driving down the global cost of solar electricity considerably over the past decade and making clean energy affordable for a growing number of both developing and developed nations.

In the long race of energy transition, speed determines who will gain the initiative. Those who take the lead in technological innovation, industrial supporting facilities, and project deployment are bound to reap the benefits of sustainable development. 

From this perspective, the core challenge facing developed economies such as those in Europe and the US in their clean energy transition is not the choice of technological routes, but the speed of deployment. 

The International Renewable Energy Agency has said that total global renewable power generation capacity will need to triple by 2030 to reach more than 11, 000 gigawatts under the agency's 1.5 degree C scenario in the World Energy Transitions Outlook, with solar photovoltaic and wind power accounting for about 90 percent of renewable energy capacity additions.

The cost curve of clean energy equipment has dropped significantly over the past decade, largely driven by large-scale production and technological iteration. China's capacity expansion in the solar energy sector has objectively provided the world with a more economical solution. 

For Western countries, this means they can achieve higher emission reduction goals with lower fiscal input, and efficiently allocate the saved resources to key transition links such as power grid upgrading, energy storage supporting facilities, and demand-side management. 

But if political prejudice or protectionism leads to rejecting more cost-effective technologies and equipment, or to erecting artificial trade barriers that raise the cost of clean energy, the ultimate losers will be such countries' own energy transitions and the interests of their consumers.

An open and inclusive attitude, together with smooth and efficient cooperation, is precisely what guarantees a faster transition. If Western countries can view China's role in the green supply chain with a more open mind, the global deployment of clean energy will only accelerate, benefiting not only developing nations but also the West's own climate goals and economic well-being. 

The transition is already irreversible, and those who embrace cooperation rather than confrontation will be the ones to lead the way toward a sustainable future.