Energy Electricity consumption will rise sharply globally in the coming years
The hunger for energy in emerging and developing countries and the growing demand for electricity in the economy will drive up electricity consumption worldwide in the coming years. An annual increase in consumption of almost four percent is predicted by 2027.
14.02.2025, 09:35
SDA
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday, the increase is primarily due to the rapidly growing use of electricity for industrial production, rising demand for air conditioning systems, increasing electrification, particularly in the transport sector, and the rapid expansion of data centers. At 85 percent, emerging and developing countries account for the largest share of additional demand.
Strong growth in demand for electricity in China
The trend is most pronounced in China, where demand for electricity has been growing faster than the economy as a whole since 2020. Chinese electricity consumption rose by seven percent in 2024 and is expected to increase by an average of around six percent annually until 2027.
The rapid expansion of the electricity-intensive production of solar panels, batteries and electric cars as well as the introduction of data centers and 5G networks are also contributing to the growth in demand in China. Electrification is progressing rapidly in China and, at 28%, the share of electricity in total energy consumption is already much higher than in the USA (22%) or the EU (21%).
Heat pumps, e-cars and data centers drive demand in the EU
According to the IEA analysis, electricity demand in the EU is recovering from the economic slowdown of recent years, but is not expected to return to 2021 levels before 2027. Households and businesses are responsible for the 1.4 percent growth in demand in 2024, particularly with increased use of heat pumps and electric cars as well as higher demand from data centers.
The International Energy Agency assumes that the growth in low-emission energy sources - primarily renewables and nuclear energy - will be sufficient overall to cover the increase in global electricity demand over the next three years. Electricity generation from photovoltaics is expected to cover around half of the increase in global demand. By 2024, electricity generation from photovoltaics will have already surpassed that from coal in the EU, with solar energy accounting for over 10% of the electricity mix.
Nuclear energy is making a comeback
At the same time, the IEA forecasts that nuclear energy will make a strong comeback and its electricity generation will reach a new high every year until 2027. The comeback is due to the recovery in French nuclear energy production, the restart in Japan and the start of new reactors in China, India, Korea and other countries. According to the IEA, there is renewed interest in nuclear power at a political level, which underlines its importance as a stable backbone in low-emission energy systems for a growing number of countries.
Despite the increasing importance of low-energy power, the bottom line is that no decline in the use of fossil fuels is foreseeable worldwide by 2027. Global coal-fired power generation is expected to stagnate over this period, the energy agency explained. A decline in coal-fired power generation in the EU and the USA will be offset by increases in India and South East Asia. The situation is similar for electricity generation from natural gas, where steady annual growth of around one percent is expected until 2027.
Due to the growing use of low-emission energy sources, carbon dioxide emissions from global electricity generation are expected to stagnate in the coming years, having risen by around one percent in 2024. However, at around 13,800 million tons of CO2 last year, emissions from electricity generation remain the highest of all sectors, the Energy Agency explained.
