Nearly 70% of the increase in the world’s power demand is estimated to come from developing countries, with China, India and Southeast Asia leading the way, the Paris-based body said in February 2023.

 

In terms of absolute growth, China is expected to dominate with a rise of 58 Terawatt-hour (TWh) from 2022 to 2025. India is expected to see the biggest percentage growth, with an increase of 81%.

 

India’s power consumption increased far more quickly than China’s in 2022. This difference might be attributed to several variables, including Zero-Covid policy, population growth, economic progress and rising urbanisation.
 

On the other hand, “In India, the robust post-pandemic recovery continued to support strong electricity demand of over 8.4% in 2022,” the report noted.

 

The combined demand for energy of the 2 countries considered for over 70% of the region’s total consumption of 13,500 TWh, or about 50% of global consumption.

 

For the next 3 years, most of the world’s electricity supply growth will come from nuclear power and renewable sources like wind and solar. This will significantly impact the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, said the document.

 

“The good news is that renewables and nuclear power are growing quickly enough to meet almost all this additional appetite, suggesting we are close to a tipping point for power sector emissions,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

 

Drastic reductions in emissions from all sources are urgently needed to prevent the average world temperature from increasing by 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, according to scientists.

 

Since temperatures have already risen by more than 1.1°C from the reference period, the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s stated goal seems more improbable.

 

A complete switch from fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil to low-carbon energy sources is one option to achieve the target. Nevertheless, while some areas are using less coal and gas to generate energy, others are increasing their usage, the IEA said in a press release.

 

“Governments now need to enable low-emissions sources to grow even faster and drive down emissions so that the world can ensure secure electricity supplies while reaching climate goals,” said Birol.

 

 “We expect demand growth to continue at close to 5.6% on average per year during 2023-2025,” the agency said.