• Commentary

        • 13 Mar 2026

        Why the growth of energy service companies is uneven globally

        …and shift technical and performance risks away from consumers.As highlighted in the IEA’s Energy Efficiency 2025 report, global ESCO investments grew by 10% in 2024, reaching a record USD 42 billion. Over the past five years, the sector’s average annual growth has reached 5% – more than double the rate since 2020.However, this growth remains highly concentrated and uneven. More than 75% of global ESCO investment occurs in just two countries -- the United States and China – where strong policy and institutional frameworks have spearheaded recent growth.In China, successive Five-Year Plans have provided sustained policy direction…

        • Commentary

        • 19 Jun 2026

        Delivering on the EU’s electrification ambitions

        …competitiveness, and climate strategy. Today, imported fuels account for around 60% of the EU’s total energy demand and cost the bloc EUR 380 billion in 2024. The risks associated with the EU’s reliance on fuel imports have been highlighted by recent market disruptions linked to the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in the Middle East, bringing renewed attention to the EU’s target of increasing electrification from 24% today to 32% of energy consumption by 2030.This commentary is the second in a series examining the case for electrification in the EU. The…

        • Commentary

        • 06 Mar 2026

        The next wave of LED lighting: Smarter, circular and more efficient

        …the Age of Electricity, lighting remains one of the most visible – and widespread – parts of our energy use.The IEA estimates that lighting in buildings and outdoor applications accounts for the majority of overall lighting electricity demand. In 2024, around 8% of global electricity demand – or about 2 200 terawatt hours (TWh) – was attributed to lighting in buildings and outdoor applications, excluding industry and agriculture. These figures reflect the latest available data and define the scope of the analysis presented in this commentary.  Estimates from industry and experts place global electricity consumption for lighting, including industrial lighting, between 2 500…

        • Commentary

        • 23 Jan 2026

        Investment in next-generation geothermal is surging. Policies are key to further growth

        …number of shallow geothermal hotspots globally, accounting for only about 1% of global electricity demand today.Next-generation geothermal technology developers are seeking to overcome these limits by drilling deeper and harnessing heat from hard-to-reach reservoirs. Operators can either circulate fluid through fractures that have been induced (through what is known as enhanced geothermal systems) or transfer heat to the surface through closed-loop circuits. These technologies are advancing quickly, potentially enabling economically-viable geothermal development nearly anywhere in the world. The IEA’s Future of Geothermal Energy report, published in late 2024, estimated that with continued technology…

        • Commentary

        • 19 Jan 2026

        7 certainties about energy for this age of uncertainty

        …widely used for many years to come, but the use of electricity is growing twice as a fast as overall energy demand. It’s the key energy input to the most dynamic parts of the global economy – such as AI, data centres and high-tech manufacturing – and is increasing its share of major sectors like road transport and heating through technologies such as EVs and heat pumps. Already today, more than half of the investment going into the global energy sector each year is going to electricity. Renewables will keep growing Despite some headwinds, in many countries around the world…

        • Commentary

        • 08 Jun 2026

        International collaboration continues to power innovation in energy technologies

        …to hydrogen, carbon capture, fossil energy and next-generation fuels.The TCPs currently involve thousands of experts from approximately 300 public and private organisations across around 60 countries. This includes representatives of non-IEA Member countries. Many of the original initiatives remain active today, continuously evolving to meet emerging technological breakthroughs and global energy challenges. The newest TCP – established earlier this year – focuses on Critical Minerals and Material Recovery, an increasingly important topic for policymakers and technology developers.  This week, representatives of the TCPs are convening at the IEA’s headquarters in Paris for the sixth Universal TCP Meeting. Participants…

        • Commentary

        • 29 May 2026

        Battery storage is scaling up and taking on a larger system role

        …in grid connection and permitting, will be key to setting the pace of growth. Growth in battery storage capacity broke records again in 2025, with new markets growing fast Global battery storage deployment expanded strongly last year. Total capacity additions reached 108 gigawatts (GW), up around 40% from 2024. Annual growth of this scale exceeds the historical peak for gas‑fired power capacity additions, which was around 107 GW in 2002.Utility‑scale battery storage accounted for around 87 GW of global battery capacity additions in 2025, around four-fifths of the total. Behind-the-meter battery storage deployment also accelerated, particularly in markets with…

        • Commentary

        • 23 Jun 2026

        How accelerating electrification could strengthen energy security in Southeast Asia

        …energy trends across Southeast Asia, with electricity accounting for 23% of final energy consumption today – higher than the global average. Some countries have even higher shares. For example, around 30% of energy consumed in Brunei Darussalam and Viet Nam is electricity, up from less than 20% in the mid-2000s. Some segments of the economy are also seeing rapid growth in electrification: in 2025, EV sales in the region more than doubled year-over-year and accounted for nearly 20% of all car sales – higher than the sales share in a number of advanced economies.Even so, there remains significant potential…

        • Commentary

        • 27 Mar 2026

        Policy and financing momentum sustain CCUS progress despite setbacks

        …operating in Norway. Major projects were also commissioned in China and North America, and the construction of new facilities began in eight countries worldwide. The newest annual update to the IEA’s CCUS Project Database – which incorporates developments between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 – found that capture capacity that was operational or under construction during this period was over 10% higher than in the previous Database update, which covered the first quarter of 2024 through the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, storage capacity increased by around 25%. In terms of future prospects, the total…

        • Commentary

        • 13 Feb 2026

        Global battery markets are growing strongly – and so are the supply risks

        part 1- lithium-ion batteries Batteries’ importance is increasing across key sectors including autos, power, data centres and beyond The global lithium-ion battery market exceeded USD 150 billion in 2025, an increase of over 20% from 2024, but its economic and strategic significance extends far beyond market size. Batteries are becoming a cornerstone of the automotive sector, a critical source of flexibility for power systems, and an increasingly important source of back-up power for digital infrastructure, including data centres and artificial intelligence.Beyond energy, batteries remain indispensable for a wide range of industrial and strategic applications, from portable…

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