Five years transformed global electricity generation fundamentally. In April 2026, wind and solar surpassed global gas generation for the first time, producing 531 to 477 terawatt-hours, according to Ember, the London-based energy research institute. In 2021, this ratio was nearly reversed.

The gap of 54 terawatt-hours equals roughly one-tenth of Germany’s annual electricity consumption. Wind and solar supplied 22 percent of global electricity generation in April; gas power plants supplied 20 percent. Ember published the figures in its monthly Electricity Dashboard in mid-May 2026.

Combined wind and solar generation grew worldwide by 13 percent compared to April 2025. The United Kingdom led with a 35 percent increase, driven by offshore wind expansion and reduced dependence on gas imports. Chile raised renewable generation by 24 percent, Australia by 17 percent. China, already by far the world’s largest producer of solar and wind electricity, grew by 14 percent. The European Union added 13 percent, the United States 8 percent, and Brazil 4 percent.

April is the month when wind and solar conditions align favorably across the world. On the Northern Hemisphere, where most installed solar and wind capacity is concentrated, spring combines two advantages: solar hours increase sharply while winds remain strong. In high summer, this reverses, as heat dampens wind speeds and air-conditioning demand spikes simultaneously.

Ember emphasized that wind and solar have surpassed gas only in a single month, not on an annual basis. This constrains the milestone’s significance but does not erase it. In 2021, no energy analyst would have predicted this moment would arrive by 2026.

In April 2021, the picture was nearly mirrored. Gas produced 476 terawatt-hours; wind and solar combined delivered 245 terawatt-hours. Since then, combined wind and solar generation more than doubled, while gas output remained essentially flat.

This asymmetry carries the real signal. Gas power plants were not dismantled; wind and solar built massively instead. Global annual solar generation grew 30 percent in 2025 compared to the year before, reaching 2,778 terawatt-hours. Together, wind and solar accounted for 99 percent of all global electricity demand growth in 2025, without requiring gas plants to increase output.

Similar milestones, once thought distant, already lie behind us. In 2025, renewables overtook coal for the first time in over a century in the global power mix, capturing 33.8 percent versus 33.0 percent for coal. In the European Union, wind and solar surpassed all fossil fuels combined that same year. The April 2026 record extends this series and applies it to the global gas comparison.

For consumers in Europe, this milestone carries indirect relevance. Gas power plants often serve as price-setters in many European electricity markets, since they represent the most expensive generation source brought online. As wind and solar supply more frequently reaches sufficient levels, gas plants less often set prices as the marginal unit, which suppresses wholesale prices.

This does not mean gas power plants become obsolete in the near future. They continue to supply guaranteed capacity during wind and solar droughts. The structural difference from earlier eras: gas plants run less often and for shorter periods, pressuring their economics and making new investments unattractive. In the United Kingdom, this mechanism has already caused several planned gas plants to fail to secure financing in 2025 and 2026.

Ember estimates that wind and solar may reach the annual milestone, surpassing gas on a yearly average, within two to three years at current build-out rates. Specifically, around 2028, if annual growth of 13 percent continues and no structural barriers emerge.

Grid expansion could brake this timeline, especially where transmission build-out lags capacity additions and permitting delays slow new transmission lines. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently warned that without accelerated grid build-out, over 3,000 gigawatts of newly installed renewable capacity worldwide could remain unutilized by 2030.

What April 2026 demonstrates: the global electricity system is structurally tipping, driven not by political mandates but because wind and solar electricity now cost less than electricity from new gas plants in most markets. The first month when clean energy globally outpaced gas is the clearest evidence so far that this inflection point is not merely theoretical but quantifiable in terawatt-hours.