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The Value of Demand Flexibility
Benefits beyond balancing This policy brief, developed under the International Energy Agency’s Digital Demand-Driven Electricity Networks (3DEN) Initiative, examines the value of demand flexibility as a core component of modern electricity systems, with a strong emphasis on its role in improving energy efficiency. As electricity demand grows and power systems become more electrified, decentralised and renewable-rich, managing when and how electricity is used is increasingly as important as expanding supply.The brief sets out a clear framework for understanding demand flexibility and highlights its contribution to an efficiency-first approach to power system planning and operation. By…
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Global Methane Tracker 2025
Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, and rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are key to limiting near-term global warming and improving air quality. The energy sector – including oil, natural gas, coal and bioenergy – accounts for more than 35% of methane emissions from human activity and has some of the best opportunities to cut these emissions. The annually updated Global Methane Tracker is an essential tool for raising awareness about methane emissions across the energy sector and the opportunities to bring them down.The Tracker presents our latest…
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Designing Energy Efficiency Policies to Enhance Affordability
Examples from G7 countries Energy affordability has emerged as a critical concern in the context of rising global energy prices and growing inequality in energy access. Lower-income households spend a significantly higher share of their income on energy than wealthier households, leaving them exposed to price shocks and especially vulnerable when energy prices increase. Energy efficiency can play a key role in delivering lower energy bills, reducing emissions, and enhancing resilience. However, ensuring that all households benefit requires targeted, inclusive policy design.This issue was a central focus of an IEA workshop held in January 2025 with G7 country…
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Prospects for Natural Gas Certification
This report offers an overview of the role of certification in natural gas supply chains, provides a broad mapping of existing initiatives, highlights selected regulatory and market developments, identifies areas where improvements may be needed, and presents recommendations to support the development of credible certification frameworks.Certified natural gas refers to gas whose environmental and social attributes – such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance, water use, local community impacts and worker safety – have been independently verified against defined criteria or benchmarks. In 2024, around 7.5% of global natural gas production was certified, with volumes primarily originating from North America…
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Manufacturing and Trade Model
The IEA’s Manufacturing and Trade (MaT) Model was first developed for the 2024 edition of Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) to produce scenario projections of manufacturing and trade across six key energy technology supply chains. These cover solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps. This model is now used to generate detailed sector-by-sector and region-by-region long-term scenarios in IEA publications such as the World Energy Outlook and Global EV Outlook.The MaT model is part of the IEA’s broader modelling framework and is closely linked to the Global Energy…
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Policy options to accelerate distributed solar PV in Ukraine
Accelerating distributed solar PV and battery energy storage deployment will support Ukraine in establishing energy security.In the year following the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, available dispatchable power generation capacity halved from roughly 38 GW to 19 GW. After severe attacks in spring 2024, capacity declined further, down to 12 GW. Towards the end of 2024 Ukraine was able to restore 3 GW and has worked to restore and add additional capacity throughout 2025, despite ongoing attacks.Distributed solar PV has played a key role, providing cost effective and rapid increases in electricity generation capacity, contributing…
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Rare Earth Elements
Pathways to secure and diversified supply chains The critical role of rare earth elements in strategic applications, ranging from energy technologies and advanced electronics to aerospace and defence systems, combined with their highly concentrated supply chains, has elevated their importance in both energy and broader economic security discussions in recent years. This report assesses the current state of the rare earth elements market, examining demand and supply dynamics and key technological developments. It analyses the full value chain from mining to permanent magnet production, evaluates vulnerabilities across supply chains, and highlights the implications of potential supply disruptions. Based on these…
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Unlocking Ukraine’s Hydrogen Opportunity: A Roadmap
Ukraine’s energy sector has been severely affected by the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion. The power sector went from having a large capacity surplus before the war to a power deficit in 2024 due to Russia’s attacks. This has focused attention on energy security and restoring the reliability of supply. Hydrogen demand from conventional applications in refining and ammonia has also plunged, falling 80%, with most of these assets in southern Ukraine, where the frontline and occupied areas are located. Overall economic damage from the war has been extensive, with reconstruction costs previously estimated by the World…
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National Climate Resilience Assessment for Mozambique
Mozambique’s energy system has experienced significant disruptions due to extreme weather events, notably tropical storms and cyclones. With climate change, storms are projected to intensify, as are the risks of seasonal droughts and floods, posing a threat to the reliable operation of hydropower generation and the secure operation of the country’s coal mines. Mozambique’s plans to diversify its energy supply are an important step to enhance energy security and could be complemented by targeted measures to make its electricity system more resilient to natural hazards. Storms and tropical cyclones present the most regular extreme weather event faced…
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Scaling Up Transition Finance
Scaling Up
Transition
Finance Actions by emissions-intensive sectors, companies and countries are crucial to placing the world on a sustainable pathway. Yet investments that could deliver meaningful reductions in their environmental footprint often do not receive sufficient financial support. Currently, finance is drawn heavily to certain “green” assets and activities. While vital, these investments alone cannot deliver all the changes needed to cut global emissions, especially in areas where clean technologies are not yet commercially available or cost-competitive. This is where transition finance comes in: it can help emissions-intensive countries, companies and sectors shift over time towards…