IEA: Renewable Electricity to Surpass Coal by 2025

The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Friday that the global electricity production from renewable sources is expected to exceed that from coal-fired plants for the first time in 2025. This milestone is predicted as electricity demand is set to increase by four percent this year and next, up from 2.5 percent in 2023. This would be the highest annual growth since 2007, excluding the surges following the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 recovery, according to the Paris-based agency.

“The soaring demand highlights the growing role of electricity in our economies and the impacts of severe heat waves,” stated Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA’s director of energy markets and security.

Renewable sources such as hydroelectric, solar and wind are projected to contribute 35 percent of the global electricity supply next year, an increase from 30 percent in 2023. Notably, solar power alone is anticipated to meet half of the demand growth by 2025, with wind energy contributing an additional 25 percent.

Despite the rise in renewable energy, coal use is not expected to decline due to the increasing electricity consumption in China and India. Heat waves in India are forecasted to boost electricity demand by eight percent this year, while China’s demand is expected to grow by six percent.

In Europe, electricity demand is set to increase by 1.7 percent. In the United States, where mild weather led to a demand decrease last year, electricity usage is predicted to rise by three percent this year, driven partly by the development of large data centres for artificial intelligence.

“While it’s encouraging to see the share of clean energy in the electricity mix increasing, this needs to accelerate significantly to meet international energy and climate goals,” Sadamori emphasised. He also urged policymakers to implement higher energy efficiency standards to mitigate the impact of increased cooling demand on power systems.