Electricity production in OECD countries rises 1% on year in Aug: IEA

Total net electricity production in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries rose 1.1% year on year to 981.9 TWh in August, mainly driven by strong generation from solar and wind, according to the International Energy Agency.

Renewable sources contributed 32.4% of the total OECD production in August, up 7.6% on the year, the IEA said in its monthly electricity statistics report released late Nov. 15.

Solar generation surged 27.3% on the year while wind generation rose 5.5%, the IEA said, adding that hydropower saw a dip of 3.2%.

Hydro generation in OECD Asia Oceania fell 13.9% on the year.

"The continued growth in solar generation saw double-digit increases across all regions year on year," the report said.

Solar generation in OECD Americas jumped 32.2%, while OECD Europe saw a 28.8% surge and OECD Asia Oceania recorded a 16.8% increase, the IEA report said.

Wind generation in OECD Asia Oceania increased 40% on the year to 5 TWh, or 2.8% of total generation in the region. OECD Europe generated the most from wind in August at 37.9 TWh, up 5.5% on the year, the IEA added.

Nuclear picks up in India

Fossil fuels contributed 51.5% of total OECD electricity production in August, totaling 505.3 TWh, down 3.2% on the year, the IEA said, largely due to a 6.5% drop in coal-fired electricity generation.

OECD Americas saw a drop of 12.9% on the year in generation from fossil fuels during the month, the report said.

Electricity generation from natural gas also fell 1% on the year to 322.9 TWh, with OECD Europe seeing a sharp decline of 16.9% on the year, the IEA said.

Nuclear power accounted for 15.8% of total OECD electricity production in August, up 3.2% on the year, mainly driven by OECD Europe, which saw a 13.5% on the year jump.

However, OECD Americas and OECD Asia Oceania saw decreases in nuclear power generation of 0.3% and 6.8% on the year, respectively.

In August, nuclear power generation in India jumped 25.7% on the year to 5,162 GWh, contributing 3.16% to the overall electricity mix, the IEA said.

"This increase results from ongoing developments in the nuclear energy sector, including the commissioning of new reactors within the year, as part of India's strategy to diversify its energy sources and enhance its nuclear capacity," the IEA report said.

OECD has 38 member countries spanning from North America and South America to Europe and Asia-Pacific.