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Fatih Birol
Executive Director. As Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Dr Fatih Birol (@fbirol) has positioned the IEA at the forefront of global efforts to advance a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system. Since taking office in 2015, he has modernised the Agency by broadening its energy security mandate beyond oil to include electricity, natural gas, renewables and critical minerals, strengthened the Agency's global leadership in clean energy transitions and expanded IEA membership to include major emerging countries. As a result, the IEA’s share of global energy demand coverage has increased from 40% to over 80%. He has also played a central role in the global response to major energy security emergencies, including those triggered by the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis.Dr Birol joined the IEA in 1995 and steadily rose through the ranks from junior analyst to Chief Economist, where he oversaw the flagship W...
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Energy and AI Understanding the energy-AI nexus
Artificial intelligence (AI) has a long history, dating back to at least the 1950s. Over time, it has seen a series of alternating periods of optimism and pessimism (so-called “AI winters”). In recent years, however, AI has been dramatically boosted by several developments and breakthroughs in techniques, costs and technology that have led to the rise of AI in its modern form that we are familiar with today, in particular generative AI. These developments include the massive increase in computing power and decline in cost due to exponential improvements in computing hardware performance; the exponential increase in the availability…
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Gibraltar
Gibraltar
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa Outlook for clean cooking in Africa
Off the back burner? Based on today’s policies, investment and market trends, only three African countries are set to reach universal clean cooking access by mid-century. Sub-Saharan Africa could achieve universal coverage by 2040, if countries were to replicate the best historical rates of progress seen in similar countries around the world – a pathway explored in the new Accelerating Clean Cooking and Electricity Services Scenario (ACCESS). It will require 80 million people to gain access annually, or a 4.7 percentage point improvement in access rates each year, comparable to rates of progress seen in Indonesia, Cambodia…
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Financing Electricity Access in Africa Pathway to universal access
Mobilising the necessary investment Under the new Accelerating Clean Cooking and Electricity Services Scenario (ACCESS), investment of nearly USD 150 billion is needed to achieve universal electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by 2035. This represents a six-fold increase in annual spending from today’s levels, facilitated by improvements to the regulatory environment, strengthened risk management by developers and risk-mitigation tools to support more private investment, and a more targeted use of concessional funds.Around 45% of households currently without access are connected via the grid under the ACCESS scenario, with financial support for households to reduce connection fees and…
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Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 Beyond NMC batteries: Supply chain issues for emerging battery technologies
…production in China, coupled with proposed export controls on Chinese LFP technology, it is becoming increasingly important for policy makers to develop diversified supply chains. De-risking LFP cathode, PPA and manganese sulphate production projects is crucial, also reducing domestic equipment and machinery costs, as well as providing demand incentives for domestic production. Sodium-ion presents a potential supply security opportunity due to its more diversified upstream supply chain, with the United States and Europe already playing key roles in soda ash, caustic soda and biomass supply. Yet, the downstream supply chain – cell, cathode and hard carbon anode – remains dominated...
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Kosovo
This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99 and the Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Congo
In Congo, 3 out of 5 people do not have access to electricity. As a country with a very low population density, Congo faces particularly severe challenges in bringing energy of any kind to its rural communities.
- Overview
- Energy mix
- Emissions
- Electricity
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+ 5 pages
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Key Questions on Energy and AI Executive summary
The AI and energy nexus continues to evolve rapidly The largest technology companies are contributing to a surge in data centre investment, as their capital expenditure exceeded USD 400 billion in 2025 – and is expected to jump by another 75% in 2026. Capital expenditure of just five technology companies is now larger than global investment in oil and natural gas production. Many jurisdictions are seeing project pipelines accelerate dramatically, although not all projects will come to fruition. Those that are moving forward are doing so at pace: the IEA’s unique satellite-based tracking shows that “artificial intelligence (AI) factories…
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Financing Electricity Access in Africa State of play
Understanding electricity access financing As of 2024, around 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (47% of the population) did not have access to electricity. With electrification barely keeping up with population growth rates, progress remains far off the pace envisaged both by African governments and international organisations. Reaching universal access requires a cost-effective, multi-technology approach, with grid extension, mini-grids and stand-alone systems all playing a role to ensure affordable service provision to unelectrified communities. Notably, financing has been one of the primary impediments to growth.For the first time, the IEA has tracked electricity access financing commitments…
