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Battery storage is scaling up and taking on a larger system role
…a growing role in power systems worldwide, acting as a “multi-tool” that can provide a range of critical system services at once. According to the latest data, the deployment of batteries expanded strongly in 2025 and broadened across markets – with rapid growth in countries such as Australia and Saudi Arabia, where storage is increasingly being used to support the integration of rising shares of variable renewables.In regions that have been at the forefront of renewable integration and battery deployment, batteries now play an essential role in continuously balancing electricity demand and supply. Comparatively short construction and development timelines…
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Wired for water: How electrification is transforming desalination
…the population lived in water-stressed areas in 2000, and despite slightly faster population growth in relatively less stressed zones – such as northern Morocco, northeast Algeria and the Tigris valley – more than 70% remain exposed to high or extreme stress today. Countries have several levers to address water stress: improving agricultural efficiency, expanding water reuse and rainwater harvesting, and modernising infrastructure to reduce losses and expand storage and transport. While these remain the first line of defence, countries have at the same time increased investments in water desalination. Australia demonstrates contrasting responses. During the “Millennium drought” of the early 2000s...
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Delivering on the EU’s electrification ambitions
…globally, heralding the arrival of an Age of Electricity. However, the EU’s electrification rate over that period has remained relatively stagnant, and today remains broadly similar to those of advanced economies that are also rich in fossil fuel resources, such as the United States and Australia. By contrast, comparable advanced economies with more limited domestic fossil fuel supplies – notably Japan and Korea – have reached electrification rates well above 30%. Electrification in every sector Achieving 32% electrification would increase EU electricity consumption by around 600 Terawatt-hours (TWh), roughly equivalent to the combined annual electricity consumption of France and Spain…
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Executive Director meets with Prime Minister of Australia to discuss urgent energy challenges facing Asia-Pacific region
Meetings in Canberra amid Middle East crisis also include bilateral with Climate and Energy Minister and address to high-level audience in Great Hall of Parliament House IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol met today with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and other senior government figures in Canberra to discuss the significant energy market challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region due to the war in the Middle East, as well as measures that could help ease pressures on consumers. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict has slowed a significant portion of the world’s oil…
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IEA hosts high-level energy dialogue with Türkiye and Australia
…two-thirds of the world’s population, as well as a broad range of high-level stakeholders, including leaders from four previous COP Presidencies, private sector executives and civil society figures. It was also held in partnership with Australia, which is leading the negotiations for COP31 in close cooperation with Pacific countries, with Fiji and Tuvalu hosting pre-COP events in October.Building on the strong role previous High-Level Dialogue series have played in shaping COP outcomes, the discussion served as an opportunity for President-Designate Kurum – who is also Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change –…
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Canada is set to play a leading role in supplying the world with responsibly produced critical minerals
Commentary Already a mining hub, Canada could play a big part in diversifying global mineral supply chains Since 2023, the IEA has been conducting Critical Mineral Reviews – in-depth country reviews of critical mineral policies and security that have served as part of the Agency’s pioneering work to ensure secure mineral supply chains. The latest Critical Minerals Review of Canada shows that at a time of increasing concentration risks, including from export controls by the dominant supplier, Canada has the potential to contribute to the development of secure, diversified and competitive global supply chains for critical minerals.Canada can…
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IEA to host Mission Innovation Secretariat in step to enhance international energy technology cooperation
…investment in research, development and demonstration of advanced energy technologies.The decision for the Mission Innovation Secretariat to join several other global initiatives at the Paris headquarters of the IEA, the world’s energy authority, has been approved by the member governments of both organisations.Mission Innovation was launched in 2015 with the goal of helping to make advanced energy technologies affordable, attractive and accessible for all. It meets annually at Ministerial level, bringing together a large network of governments and partner organisations under the leadership of its 24 Members: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, the European Commission…
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IEA Ministerial: In the Age of Electricity, energy security depends on resilience and cooperation
…address emerging risks. The session was led by Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Sophie Hermans, who chaired the IEA Ministerial, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, and Ambassador Stephen Jones of Australia.Participants emphasised that the Age of Electricity is now firmly underway. Rising power demand across sectors – driven by the electrification of transport, industry and buildings as well as growing needs from cooling, artificial intelligence and data centres – is reshaping the global energy landscape. As highlighted in the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2025, renewables are expanding…
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IEA confirms Member country contributions to collective action to release oil stocks in response to Middle East disruptions
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Contribution to the IEA Collective Action agreed on 11 March 2026 (in mb)
Country
Total contribution
Public stocks
Obligated industry stocks
Production increase
Crude oil
Oil products
Australia
4.8
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4.8
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4.8
Austria
2.4
2.4
-
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2.4
-
Belgium
0.3
details not yet available
Canada
23.6
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23.6
23.6
Czech Republic
2.2
2.2
-
-
2.2
-
Denmark
1.2
1.2
-
-
-
1.2
Estonia
0.3
0.3
-
-
-
0.3
Finland
1.8
details not yet available
France -
Decision makers discuss strategies for achieving energy priorities at COP31-IEA High-Level Dialogue in London
…IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol opened the event, followed by keynote remarks from COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum, who also serves as Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Chris Bowen, the COP31 President of Negotiations and Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy, delivered a video address.Other high-level participants included Colombia’s Minister of Environment Irene Vélez Torres; COP32 President-Designate and Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos; European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen; the Netherlands’ Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth Stientje van Veldhoven; Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment…