In 2024 1/3 of the worldwide supply of electricity could come from renewable energy

The update on the world supply of electricity has been published by the IEA.The decrease of electricity consumption in the advanced economies is weighing on the growth of global demand, which should settle at a +2% in 2023.

All data are reported below. 

Worldwide electricity supply: 1/3 from clean energy in 2024

The International Energy Agency’s update reveals a decrease in electricity demand in several countries:

• United States -2%;
• Japan -3%;
• EU -3%.

A decrease of this type reveals that the total demand will increase by a little less than 2%, a decline compared to 2.3% of 2022. 

Currently, the increase of the global demand for electricity is still supported by the growing electrification of energy systems that are contributing to the reduction of emissions; but not only that, developing economies are encouraging the global increase of the demand.

According to the IEA prevision, the Chinese demand will increase at an average annual rate of 5.2% over the next two years, given that it is only slightly below the 2015-2019 average. Another developing economy is India, whose demand for electricity could grow by 6.5% in 2024, well over the five-year period (2015-2019).

Despite this, even if the demand is expanding in many regions, there is a strong deployment of renewable energies worldwide, which actively contributes to the growth of the energy supply. More specifically, by 2024 renewable energies could overcome the 1/3 share in energy production.

At the same time, electricity generated from fossil fuels is expected to decrease over the next two years. The Agency predicts that electricity generated by oil and coal will decrease significantly after the 1.7% increase in 2022.

Global electricity supply: it’s time for renewables energies

Keisuke Sadamori IEA’s Director of Energy Markets and Security affirmed: 

“The world’s need for electricity is set to grow strongly in the years to come. The global increase in demand through 2024 is expected to amount to about three times the current electricity consumption of Germany, and we’re encouraged to see renewables accounting for a rising share of electricity generation, resulting in declines in the use of fossil fuels for power generation. Now is the time for policy makers and the private sector to build on this momentum to ensure emissions from the power sector go into sustained decline.”

This is a sign of hope for the future, suggesting that the world is rapidly moving towards a point defined by the Agency as "critical", that is a situation in which the global generation of electricity from fossil fuels will increasingly be replaced by electricity from clean energy sources.