India's Electricity Consumption May Surge By 8% In 2024: IEA Report
When the world’s demand for electricity has risen at its fastest rate in years, India is also expected to surge its demand by a massive eight percent this year, as per the new report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The demand was driven by extreme heatwaves as well as strong growth in industrial and residential power consumption.
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This would be the highest annual growth rate since 2007, excluding the exceptional rebounds seen in the wake of the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The mid-year report released on Friday by IEA noted that India, the fastest-growing major economy in the world, will rise to 8% in electricity consumption by 2024.
Global electricity demand is anticipated to grow by around four percent in 2024, up from 2.5 percent in 2023. The trend is expected to continue in the coming year as well with a growth of four percent increase. Apart from that, Renewable sources of electricity are also set to expand rapidly this year and next, with the share of global electricity supply forecast to rise from 30 per cent in 2023 to 35 per cent in 2025.
India’s per capita electricity consumption is currently 20% of that in the European Union.
“This is supported by strong GDP growth and increased cooling demand due to long and intense heatwaves. In the first half of 2024, the country grappled with heatwaves of record duration, with peak load reaching a new high and putting exceptional strains on power systems. Assuming a return to average weather conditions, we expect electricity demand growth in India to ease moderately to 6.8% in 2025,” said the report.
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The report also highlight that coal-fired output is set to remain resilient in 2024 due to strong electricity demand growth which would hinder a decline in global power sector CO2 emissions.
Similarly, some of the world’s major economies are registering particularly strong increases in electricity consumption. China will also see a significant demand growth of more than six percent as a result of robust activity in the services industries and various other sectors.
