Global electricity demand growth expected to slow to 2.4% in 2022

Global electricity demand is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2022 after last year’s 6% increase, bringing it in line with its average growth rate over the five years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new report says.

While electricity demand is currently expected to continue on a similar growth path into 2023, the outlook is clouded by economic turbulence and uncertainty over how fuel prices could impact the generation mix, IEA said. 

Strong capacity additions are set to push up global renewable power generation by more than 10% in 2022, displacing some fossil fuel generation.

Despite nuclear’s 3% decline, low-carbon generation is set to rise by 7% overall, leading to a 1% drop in total fossil fuel-based generation.

As a result, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the global electricity sector are set to decline in 2022 from the all-time high they reached in 2021, albeit by less than 1%.

In the first half of 2022, average natural gas prices in Europe were four times as high as in the same period in 2021 while coal prices were more than three times as high, resulting in wholesale electricity prices more than tripling in many markets.

The IEA’s price index for major global electricity wholesale markets reached levels that were twice the first-half average of the 2016-2021 period.

Staff Report | ReNews.biz: