Renewables hit a major milestone in April, contributing more electricity generating power to the grid for the month than coal, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Renewable sources provided 23 percent of total electricity generation to coal’s 20 percent.
“This outcome reflects both seasonal factors as well as long-term increases in renewable generation and decreases in coal generation,” according to the EIA.
“Record generation from wind and near-record generation from solar contributed to the overall rise in renewable electricity generation this spring. Electricity generation from wind and solar has increased as more generating capacity has been installed. In 2018, about 15 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar generating capacity came online.
"Wind generation reached a record monthly high in April 2019 of 30.2 million megawatthours (MWh). Solar generation—including utility-scale solar photovoltaics and utility-scale solar thermal—reached a record monthly high in June 2018 of 7.8 million MWh.” Read more at EIA.gov.
And then check out the forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance which expects solar and wind to power half the globe in 2050.