The latest International Energy Agency Monthly Electricity Statistics report, which includes data up to end-April, shows that for OECD membership total net electricity generation was 803.4 TWh in April 2023, decreasing by 2.5% year-on-year. This decrease was driven by lower production from fossil fuel sources (-5.3% y-o-y), mainly from coal fired plants (-18.1% y-o-y).
Renewable energy production also saw a slight decrease in April 2023 (-1.2% y-o-y), as lower precipitation in the recent months in North America impacted hydropower production, and lower wind speeds in the northern hemisphere resulted in lower wind power production.
Nuclear power, despite plant closures in OECD Europe, increased by 2.7% y-o-y for total OECD membership.
The greatest decrease was in Germany, where total net electricity production was 40.8 TWh in April 2023, down by 13.0% y-o-y compared to the same month last year. Electricity production from nuclear plants declined by 66.3% y-o-y, reflecting the planned shutdown of the last three nuclear plants in mid-April, which marks the end of the nuclear era for Germany. Electricity production in the country from fossil fuels fell by 14.6% y-o-y, mainly driven by the decline of coal (-21.1% y-o-y), and production from renewables increasing 4.8% y-o-y.
The IEA’s Monthly Electricity Statistics features electricity production and trade data for all OECD member countries and electricity production data for a selection of other economies.
