The increased supply of renewables helped to plug the gap as global energy demand grew at a faster-than-average pace last year, according to a new report from the IEA.
Renewables and natural gas covered the majority of additional energy needs as the consumption of electricity rose around the world, the IEA’s Global Energy Review said.
The amount of new renewable power capacity installed worldwide rose to around 700GW in 2024, setting a new annual record for the 22nd consecutive year.
The latest edition of the IEA’s review, published today, is the first global assessment of 2024 trends across the energy sector.
The report found that global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year – lower than GDP growth of 3.2% but considerably faster than the average annual demand increase of 1.3% between 2013 and 2023.
The acceleration in global energy demand growth in 2024 was led by the power sector, with global electricity consumption surging by nearly 1100 terawatt-hours, or 4.3%. This was nearly double the annual average over the past decade.
The sharp increase in the world’s electricity use was driven by record global temperatures, which boosted demand for cooling in many countries, as well as by rising consumption from industry, the electrification of transport, and the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence.
Nearly all of the rise in electricity demand was met by low-emissions sources, led by the record-breaking expansion of solar PV capacity, with further growth in other renewables and nuclear power, according to the report.
The review found that 80% of the increase in global electricity generation in 2024 was provided by renewable sources and nuclear, which together contributed 40% of total generation for the first time.
The continued rapid adoption of clean energy technologies limited the annual rise in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, the report said.
Record temperatures contributed significantly to the annual 0.8% rise in global CO2 emissions to 37.8 billion tonnes.
However, the deployment of solar PV, wind, nuclear, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 now prevents 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of 7% of global emissions, the report said.
IEA executive director Faith Birol (pictured) said: “There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy – but this new data-driven IEA report puts some clear facts on the table about what is happening globally.
“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.
“The result is that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies increased in 2024, with renewables covering the largest share of the growth, followed by natural gas. And the strong expansion of solar, wind, nuclear power and EVs is increasingly loosening the links between economic growth and emissions.”
Emerging and developing economies accounted for over 80% of the increase in global energy demand in 2024.
This was despite slower growth in China, where energy consumption rose by less than 3%, half its 2023 rate and well below the country’s recent annual average.
After several years of declines, advanced economies saw a return to growth, with their energy demand increasing by almost 1% in aggregate.