Fossil fuel electricity production falls to less than half of total

The latest International Energy Agency Monthly Electricity Statistics report shows that in September 2024, the total net electricity production in OECD countries was 882.1 TWh, an increase by 1.2% over September 2023. In the first three quarters of 2024, total net production increased by 2.5% compared to the same period last year.

Fossil fuels contributed 49.6% of the total in September, producing 437.5 TWh and marking a 3.3% decline compared to September 2024. On a year-to-date basis, electricity production reduced by 1.7%. The decrease was largely owing to reduced coal-fired electricity generation, which fell by 4.6% year-to-date, lowering coal’s share to 16.3 % in September. OECD Europe experienced the most significant decline in relative terms, with a 10.8% reduction year-to-date, followed by the Americas (-2.9 y-t-d) and Asia Oceania (-2.6 y-t-d). However, generation from natural gas slightly increased, up 0.3% year-to-date, with percentage increases in the Americas (+4.4% y-t-d) and Asia Oceania (+2.3% y-t-d) being offset by a large relative decrease in Europe (-16.0% y-t-d).

Renewable sources contributed 33.6% of the OECD total production in September, representing a 9.2% increase year-on-year. Electricity production from renewables sources also increased over the first three quarters of 2024(+ 8.6% y-t-d). This growth was driven by significant increases in solar (+18.5% y-t-d) and wind (+7.8% y-t-d) generation, coupled with an upward trend in hydro generation (+5.2% y-t-d).

The continued growth in solar generation saw high increases across all regions year-to-date: +26.1% in the OECD Americas, +18.5% in Europe and +6.7% in Asia Oceania. Similarly, the contribution from wind power increased across all OECD regions: +7.8 y-t-d in Europe, 7.1% y-t-d in the Americas and +14.3% y-t-d in Asia Oceania. The increase in hydro generation was led by OECD Europe (+18.3% y-t-d) while OECD Asia Oceania remained stable (+0.3% y-t-d) and the OECD Americas diminished (-4.0% y-t-d).

Nuclear power accounted for 16.4% of the total, marking a 0.3% increase year-on-year. Over the first three quarters of 2024, nuclear powered generation grew by 2.8% year-to-date. The increase was mainly driven by OECD Europe (+5.0% y-t-d or 22.9 TWh), followed by Asia Oceania (+5.6% y-t-d or 10.3 TWh), while the OECD Americas also saw an increase of 0.5% year-to-date or 3.6 TWh.