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Global Energy Review 2026 Electricity supply
The increase in low-emissions power generation in 2025 outstripped total electricity supply growth Global electricity generation increased by over 850 TWh in 2025, with renewables accounting for the vast majority of growth. Together, generation from renewables and nuclear power rose by more than the total global increase in generation. In contrast, generation from fossil fuels declined: a modest rise in natural gas-fired generation was outweighed by a decline for coal. Global coal-fired generation fell by around 0.5%, marking the first decrease since the Covid‑driven drop in 2020 and the first decline outside of a period of…
- Key findings
- Global trends
- Oil
- Natural gas
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+ 9 pages
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Electricity 2026 Reliability
…across the region, affecting Spain, Portugal, and a small border region of France. System collapse happened in a matter of seconds, bringing the Iberian Peninsula to a powerful voltage blackout. Leveraging cross-border interconnections with France and Morocco while domestic black-start units came online significantly accelerated the restoration process in Spain, demonstrating the benefits of regional interconnectivity. The rapid restoration – completed within 12-16 hours – reflects the effectiveness of established restoration procedures and cross-border co‑ordination, underscoring the importance of the EU’s electricity interconnection objectives.Another significant power outage associated with voltage instability took place in North Macedonia....
- Executive summary
- Demand
- Supply
- Grids
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+ 4 pages
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The Future of Electricity in the Middle East and North Africa Executive summary
…electricity demand growth in the region. The MENA region also faces extreme water stress, with an imbalance between freshwater demand and renewable water supply four times the global average. Seven of the eight most water-stressed nations globally are in the region. To meet demand, MENA produced 12 billion cubic metres (bcm) of desalinated water in 2024, equivalent to the annual flow of the Euphrates River. Production is set to triple by 2035. While most desalination today relies on oil and gas, the last major investment in thermal desalination took place in 2018. Future growth is set to be met entirely by electricity…
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Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2026 Energy outlook to 2050 based on targets and pledges
…while electricity demand more than doubles as non-energy-intensive industries expand and electrify. In energy-intensive industries, electrification exceeds 20% by 2050, helping reduce coal demand by around 30%. In transport, energy demand is only around 5% higher in 2050 than today despite much larger vehicle fleets, as electric vehicles, rail and biofuels expand. EVs and biofuels displace around 3 mboe/d of oil demand by 2050, equivalent to Southeast Asia’s current crude oil imports. In buildings, electricity’s share rises from 55% today to 85% by 2050 as appliances, cooling, cooking and water heating electrify.Electricity becomes…
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State of Energy Policy 2026 Executive summary
…defines the shifts seen in 2025 in energy policy, the cost of living, competitiveness and resilient supply chains emerged as central themes alongside long-standing policy priorities relating to energy security, efficiency and sustainability. State of Energy Policy 2026 draws on the IEA’s Global Energy Policies Hub, which tracks more than 6 500 measures across 84 countries and more than 200 policy types, highlighting where recent policy changes represent a major shift from longer-term policy trends. Foundations laid since the 1970s have strengthened the world’s ability to respond to energy supply shocks, though no country remains shielded from such risks…
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Global Energy Review 2026 Technology: Battery storage
…China continued to lead battery deployment in 2025, accounting for around 60% of global additions, followed by the United States and Europe. However, deployment is widening beyond the largest markets, with strong momentum in Australia and parts of the Middle East, where storage is increasingly seen as a key building block for electricity security and renewables integration.Battery-based uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) – primarily in data centres – also saw significant growth, with capacity additions rising 30% to 45 GW in 2025. However, unlike battery storage systems, UPS generally only provide short‑duration backup to bridge outages until other backup sources start.
- Key findings
- Global trends
- Oil
- Natural gas
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+ 9 pages
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World Energy Outlook 2025 Current Policies Scenario
…many regions, but deployment faces integration challenges that slow further growth: annual solar PV capacity additions average 540 gigawatts to 2035, similar to the level in 2024. Coal remains the largest single source of global power generation for the next ten years. Construction of new nuclear facilities accelerates in the 2030s. Global electricity grids increase by 25 million kilometres (km), a 30% increase, to 2035, and by a further 40 million km to 2050. Annual global energy-related CO2 emissions rise slightly from current levels and approach 40 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year in the early 2030s, remaining around this level through to 2050. Emissions…
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Electricity Market Design Executive summary
…that keep pace with evolving operational and investment requirements and possibilities. Electricity is central to modern economies, and its role is expanding as consumption patterns shift, digitalisation accelerates, energy systems decentralise, and variable resources grow. Across major regions, these trends are increasing the complexity of real-time operations and reshaping investment dynamics. Short-term and seasonal flexibility needs are projected to grow faster than demand over the next decade, while electrification in many sectors is strengthening the dependence of households, businesses and industry on the reliable performance of electricity systems. These developments reinforce the importance of market arrangements that ensure…
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Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China Executive summary
…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 capacity, up from 30% four years earlier, while the stock of electric cars grew by more than 650% over the same period…
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Electricity 2026 Grids
Grids are emerging as a bottleneck for connecting supply, demand and storage A lack of grid capacity is emerging as a critical bottleneck in many regions, driving higher levels of congestion and slowing the deployment of new electricity generation, storage and demand. Grid connection queues have reached record levels worldwide. In response, this year’s report examines the range of measures that regulators and system operators are adopting to “move fast and connect things”: enabling more capacity to be integrated more quickly through regulatory reforms and deployment of technologies that can deliver rapid grid upgrades. Greater demand-side participation and…
- Executive summary
- Demand
- Supply
- Grids
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+ 4 pages