BY CLYDE RUSSELL
LAUNCESTON, Australia- There is something positive for every type of energy in the International Energy Agency’s latest global review, but the loudest cheers will be from renewables and natural gas.
The world’s energy demand grew at 2.2 percent in 2024, a pace described as “faster than average” by the IEA in its Global Energy Review, released on Monday.
The acceleration was led by emerging and developing economies, which accounted for more than 80 percent of the growth, while the leading sector was electricity, which grew by 4.3 percent in 2024, or nearly double the annual average of the past decade.
The IEA report showed renewable power capacity rose by about 700 gigawatts (GW) in 2024, setting an annual record for the 22nd consecutive year. Along with an increase in nuclear energy it resulted in 80 percent of the rise in global electricity coming from low-emission sources.
Two broad themes emerge from the IEA’s review.
The first is that renewable energy is the driving force in new electricity capacity.
The second is that emerging economies, and especially those in Asia, will determine what energy sources see the most growth, and the most decline, in coming years.
Global electricity generation rose by 1,200 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024, an increase of 4 percent, with solar climbing by about 480 TWh and wind up by 180 TWh, the IEA said.
Hydropower also rose by 190 TWh, but the IEA said this was largely due to wet weather in several major markets rather than capacity additions.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, again dominated renewable capacity additions, accounting for two-thirds of the global total of renewables connected to the grid, with 340 GW of solar and 80 GW of wind.
India, the world’s most populous country, also added about 30 GW of solar capacity, which was triple the growth of the previous year. —Reuters
