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Cost of Capital Observatory
Tracking the cost of capital for clean energy projects in emerging and developing economies The Cost of Capital Observatory is an initiative from the IEA, the World Economic Forum, ETH Zurich and Imperial College London. The aim of the Observatory is to increase transparency in the energy sector and inspire investor confidence, especially in emerging and developing countries where data on financing costs is scarcer.The Observatory is divided into three sections:A Dashboard that provides free data on the cost of capital for energy projects in emerging and developing economies, updated with 2023 and 2024 data in July and…
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Electricity 2026 Executive summary
Electricity demand is set to grow strongly through 2030 as the Age of Electricity takes hold Global electricity demand is forecast to increase at a brisk average annual rate of 3.6% over the 2026-2030 forecast period, supported by rising consumption from industry, electric vehicles, air conditioning and data centres. Worldwide electricity demand grew by 3% year-on-year in 2025. This followed growth of 4.4% in 2024, when intense heat waves and strong industrial activity in many regions boosted electricity use. Looking ahead, annual demand growth over the next five years is set to be 50% higher…
- Executive summary
- Demand
- Supply
- Grids
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+ 4 pages
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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit Industry
Introduction Industry accounts for 37% of final energy consumption globally. Doubling global energy intensity improvement by 2030 would require the decoupling of production from energy demand and raising the share of electricity in energy use from 23% in 2022 to 30% in 2030. An integrated policy approach combining regulation, information and incentives is the most effective way to achieve this goal.Regulations such as minimum energy performance standards for motors increase the efficiency of industrial processes by requiring new motors to use less energy per unit of output. This also drives the innovation of more efficient technologies. The alignment of international…
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World Energy Outlook 2025
The IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook (WEO) is the most authoritative source of global energy analysis and projections. Updated annually to reflect the latest energy data, technology and market trends, and government policies, it explores a range of possible energy futures and their implications for energy security, access and emissions. The WEO covers the whole energy system, using a scenario-based approach to highlight the central choices, consequences and contingencies that lie ahead. It includes exploratory scenarios that flow from different assumptions about existing policies, as well as normative pathways that achieve energy and emissions goals in full. The multi…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 4. TFC Solar PV project in South Africa
Project overview and impact South Africa faces significant challenges regarding electricity reliability. The lack of investment, coupled with increasing demand have led to chronic load shedding, with household and industrial consumers affected. Energy-intensive sectors, such as ferrochrome smelting, face rising operational costs, production losses and growing pressure to reduce emissions in line with national and international climate objectives. To address power shortages, the South African government, since 2023, has allowed independent power producers to build power plants above 100 MW and sell electricity directly to private customers without an issued generation license.The Tubaste Ferrochrome (TFC) solar PV power…
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Sheltering From Oil Shocks Summary
The conflict in the Middle East has created the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, due to the near halt in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Some 15 million barrels of crude oil and 5 million barrels of oil products typically traversed the Strait each day, equivalent to around 20% of global oil consumption. These flows have slowed to a trickle. The loss of supply is having significant impacts in global markets, pushing up prices for crude oil above $100/barrel, and leading to much higher prices for some refined products – notably diesel…
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Mexico
Mexico’s energy and economic profile presents both challenges and opportunities as a major oil producer, exporter and through its growing domestic energy demand. Mexico was the first large oil producing emerging economy to adopt climate legislation in 2012 and has seen growth in renewable electricity generation from wind and solar, which almost tripled from 2015 to 2022. However, strong action is needed across all sectors to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and bring down greenhouse gas emissions.
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China Executive summary
Rapid DER expansion creates new considerations for China’s distribution networks China is experiencing an unprecedented boom in distributed energy resources (DERs), including rooftop solar photovoltaics, battery storage, electric vehicles (EVs) and flexible electric loads. Typically located behind-the-meter, these small assets can deliver significant benefits to China’s power system if efficiently integrated, including enhanced flexibility, strengthened electricity security and lower system costs. Driven by declining technology costs and supportive national programmes, DER deployment has accelerated across rural communities and commercial and industrial buildings. By 2024, distributed photovoltaics (DPV) accounted for 40% of the country’s total solar…
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Panama
Panama's National Energy Plan 2015–2050 outlines long-term strategy for the country’s energy sector development, including renewables. The Plan established that 15% of Panama’s generation capacity will come from renewables by 2030 and 50% by 2050.
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Electricity Mid-Year Update 2025 Prices: Trends in wholesale markets differ across regions
Average wholesale electricity prices in the first half of 2025 rose year-on-year in various regions, including Europe, the United States and Japan, amid higher gas prices. By contrast, countries such as India and Australia saw lower wholesale prices compared to the previous year in the face of varying demand and generation trends, among other factors. At the same time, a number of markets continued to observe an increase in the occurrence of negative electricity prices. A detailed discussion of negative electricity prices and their drivers can be found in our Electricity 2025 report. Higher gas prices put upwards…
