Global electricity demand slowing sharply, says IEA
Global demand for electricity is slowing sharply this year due to sluggish economic growth and runaway energy prices and the trend will likely continue next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday (20 July).
“Electricity demand growth is slowing significantly in 2022,” the IEA wrote in its new Electricity Market Report.
“After global electricity demand grew by a strong 6% in 2021, propelled by rapid economic recovery as COVID-19 lockdowns eased, we expect growth to slow to 2.4% in 2022 – about the same as the average from 2015 to 2019,” it continued.
According to the IEA, this reflects slower global economic growth, higher energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and renewed public health restrictions, particularly in China.
Alongside this, the report found that the electricity sector’s carbon emissions were set to decline slightly this year.
