Clean energy to fully meet power demand growth in next three years

Renewables and nuclear power are expected to meet the entire growth of the world’s electricity demand over the next three years, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Electricity 2024 report, released on Wednesday.

“This is largely thanks to the huge momentum behind renewables, with ever cheaper solar leading the way, and support from the important comeback of nuclear power, whose generation is set to reach a historic high by 2025,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

Global electricity demand expanded by 2.2% in 2023, a slight deceleration from the 2022 growth due to declining electricity consumption in advanced economies. Growth is, however, expected to accelerate to an average of 3.4% from 2024 through 2026, driven by China, India and countries in Southeast Asia.

Renewables are expected to account for more than one-third of total electricity generation by early 2025. Their share in generation is projected to increase from 30% in 2023 to 37% in 2026.

At the same time, nuclear power generation is set to reach a record high by 2025 as production increases in France, several plants return online in Japan and new reactors are switched on in markets such as China, India, Korea and Europe.

By 2026, almost half of the world’s electricity generation will come from low-emissions sources, a rise from just under 40% in 2023.

According to IEA’s recent Renewables 2023 report, annual renewable capacity additions globally surged by almost 50% to 507 GW in 2023.

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