Global power demand growth accelerates to 4.3% in 2024; renewables, gas lead supply gains: IEA

Global annual electricity consumption growth accelerated to 4.3% in 2024, up from 2.5% in 2023, the International Energy Agency said March 24.

The annual gain of 1,080 TWh was double the annual average over the past decade and the biggest outright increase except during the economic rebound following the coronavirus crisis, according to the IEA's Global Energy Review 2025 report.

"There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy. What is certain is that electricity use is growing rapidly, pulling overall energy demand along with it to such an extent that it is enough to reverse years of declining energy consumption in advanced economies," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

The sharp increase was driven by record global temperatures, which boosted demand for cooling in many countries, as well as rising consumption from industry, the electrification of transport, and the growth of data centers and artificial intelligence.

Renewables accounted for around 38% of the new demand followed by natural gas at 28%, coal at 15%, oil at 11%, and nuclear at 8%.

According to the IEA, global renewable power capacity increased by around 700 GW in 2024, led by solar, whose costs have declined sharply over recent years.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed utility-scale TOPCon modules at $0.097/W, FOB China, for volumes below 50 MW March 20.

Although this represents an increase of 8% from the beginning of the year, it remains well below 2022 levels.

Emissions reductions

Rapid adoption of clean energy technologies limited the annual rise in energy-related CO2 emissions, up 0.8% at 37.8 billion mtCO2e, it said.

According to the report, the deployment of solar PV, wind, nuclear, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 now prevents 2.6 billion mtCO2e/year, the equivalent of 7% of global emissions.

CO2 emissions in advanced economies fell by 1.1% to 10.9 billion mtCO2e in 2024, the lowest level in 50 years, even though the cumulative GDP of these countries tripled over that period.

The majority of emissions growth in 2024 came from emerging and developing economies other than China.

Though emissions growth in China slowed in 2024, the country's per-capita emissions are now 16% above those of advanced economies and nearly twice the global average, the IEA said.

Regional, sector trends

China accounted for over half of the annual power demand gain (up 550 TWh or 7%), while advanced economies registered a 230 TWh on-year increase led by the US.

The EU's electricity consumption rebounded only by 1.5% in 2024. In India, the pace of electricity consumption growth slowed in 2024, after extremely unfavorable weather boosted demand in 2023, the IEA report showed.

By sector, global electricity consumption in buildings rose by 600 TWh in 2024, accounting for nearly 60% of total growth.

This segment includes both residential and commercial buildings with rising demand for air conditioning and new data centers seen as key drivers.

Industrial demand rose by 400 TWh worldwide in 2024, while transport gains were limited despite rising sales of electric cars.

According to the IEA, EV sales rose 25% from 2023 to 17 million units, with EV sales accounting for 20% of global car sales.

Coal remained the largest source of electricity generation in the world, a position it has held for over 50 years. In 2024, it accounted for 35% of total power generation.

Natural gas was the second-largest source of electricity, while oil-fired power plants generated just a few percent of the total.

Renewables and nuclear covered a record 40% of total global generation in 2024. Hydropower still leads renewables (14% of global electricity generation), followed by wind (8%) and solar PV (7% of global power demand), according to the IEA report.