Hold on to your power strips, because while coal still clung to the top spot with 35.9% of global electricity in 2023, a renewable revolution is quietly surging, as solar generation soared 25% and wind power rose 8% to claim over 30% of the world's total electricity mix for the first time.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, global electricity generation reached 29,471 terawatt-hours (TWh), marking a 2.5% increase from 2022
- Coal accounted for 35.9% of global electricity generation in 2023, down from 36.5% in 2022, totaling approximately 10,580 TWh
- Renewable sources generated 30.2% of global electricity in 2023, with solar up 25% to 1,627 TWh and wind up 8% to 2,243 TWh
- Global high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines expanded by 5,000 km in 2023 for generation evacuation
- Worldwide transmission grid investment hit $362 billion in 2023, up 5% YoY
- The US added 1,200 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in 2023
- Global electricity market revenue reached $3.2 trillion in 2023, up 4%
- US wholesale electricity prices averaged $40/MWh in 2023, down 50% from 2022 peak
- Europe's retail electricity prices hit €0.25/kWh average in 2023 for households
- Global electricity demand grew 2.2% to 28,530 TWh in 2023
- US electricity consumption totaled 4,000 TWh in 2023, up 2.1%, led by data centers
- China's demand surged 6.7% to 9,220 TWh in 2023, industrial heavy
- Renewables share in final electricity consumption hit 29.5% in 2023 globally
- Solar PV capacity reached 1,419 GW globally end-2023, generating 1,600 TWh
- Wind capacity totaled 1,017 GW by end-2023, up 10%
The global electricity sector grew modestly while shifting significantly towards renewable energy sources in 2023.
Consumption and Demand
- Global electricity demand grew 2.2% to 28,530 TWh in 2023
- US electricity consumption totaled 4,000 TWh in 2023, up 2.1%, led by data centers
- China's demand surged 6.7% to 9,220 TWh in 2023, industrial heavy
- Europe's consumption fell 3.5% to 2,750 TWh in 2023 post-energy crisis
- India's electricity consumption grew 7.8% to 1,504 TWh in FY2023
- Global residential sector used 27% of electricity or 7,700 TWh in 2023
- Industry consumed 40% globally, 11,400 TWh in 2023, chemicals and metals top
- Commercial sector demand up 3% to 3,800 TWh worldwide 2023
- Data centers consumed 460 TWh globally in 2023, 2% of total, projected to double by 2026
- Japan's peak demand hit 170 GW in summer 2023
- Brazil's consumption grew 2.5% to 550 TWh in 2023
- Australia's demand stable at 265 TWh in NEM 2023
- Peak global demand growth slowed to 1.5% in 2023 amid efficiency gains
- EVs charged with 130 TWh globally in 2023, up 35%
- Air conditioning drove 10% of demand growth, 200 TWh extra in 2023
- Africa's per capita consumption averaged 500 kWh in 2023
- Global electrification rate reached 90.4% in 2023, adding 20 million people
Consumption and Demand Interpretation
While the global demand for electricity climbed modestly at 2.2%, our collective appetite is telling a conflicted story, as an industrial and digital boom—most notably from power-hungry data centers and China’s heavy industry—vies with the sobering persistence of a vast energy access gap and the promising but still nascent growth of technologies like EVs.
Market and Economics
- Global electricity market revenue reached $3.2 trillion in 2023, up 4%
- US wholesale electricity prices averaged $40/MWh in 2023, down 50% from 2022 peak
- Europe's retail electricity prices hit €0.25/kWh average in 2023 for households
- China's electricity sales volume was 8.7 trillion kWh in 2023, revenue CNY 5.5 trillion
- Global power trading volume exceeded 2,000 TWh in 2023 across exchanges
- India's power sector capex hit INR 4.5 lakh crore in FY2023
- Utility stock market cap for top 50 firms was $2.1 trillion end-2023
- Brazil's electricity tariffs averaged BRL 0.65/kWh industrial in 2023
- Global LNG-to-power contracts signed totaled 50 mtpa in 2023
- US residential electricity bills averaged $136/month in 2023, up 6%
- Australia's NEM wholesale prices fell 60% to AUD 80/MWh in H2 2023
- Europe's carbon pricing added €50 billion to power costs in 2023
- Japan's power market liberalization covered 90% consumers by 2023
- Global PPAs signed for renewables totaled 500 GW in 2023
- South Africa's Eskom debt reached ZAR 400 billion in 2023
- Canada's electricity exports hit 70 TWh in 2023, revenue CAD 5 billion
Market and Economics Interpretation
Despite soaring global revenues and frantic trading, the power industry's story is one of staggering contrasts, where falling wholesale prices offer little comfort against rising household bills, accumulating utility debts, and a carbon bill that reminds us the true cost of keeping the lights on is never just what's on the meter.
Power Generation
- In 2023, global electricity generation reached 29,471 terawatt-hours (TWh), marking a 2.5% increase from 2022
- Coal accounted for 35.9% of global electricity generation in 2023, down from 36.5% in 2022, totaling approximately 10,580 TWh
- Renewable sources generated 30.2% of global electricity in 2023, with solar up 25% to 1,627 TWh and wind up 8% to 2,243 TWh
- Natural gas contributed 22.8% to global power generation in 2023, equating to 6,700 TWh amid fluctuating prices
- Nuclear power generation stood at 2,650 TWh globally in 2023, representing 9% of total electricity, stable despite reactor outages
- Hydroelectricity generated 4,250 TWh worldwide in 2023, 14.3% of total, affected by droughts in major producers like China and Brazil
- The United States generated 4,178 TWh of electricity in 2023, with natural gas at 43%
- China's electricity generation hit 9,456 TWh in 2023, coal-dominant at 60%
- India's power generation grew 7% to 1,949 TWh in FY2023, coal at 73%
- Europe's electricity generation fell 3% to 2,900 TWh in 2023 due to nuclear phase-outs and hydro variability
- Global utility-scale solar capacity additions reached 357 GW in 2023, led by China with 217 GW
- Wind power added 113 GW globally in 2023, with onshore dominating at 98 GW
- Battery storage capacity for power generation support grew to 42 GW globally by end-2023
- Gas-fired generation in the EU dropped 20% in 2023 to 436 TWh due to renewables surge
- South Korea's nuclear output rose 15% to 204 TWh in 2023 after restarts
- Brazil's hydro generation fell 6% to 406 TWh in 2023 due to low reservoirs
- Japan's solar generation increased 15% to 105 TWh in FY2023
- Australia's coal generation declined 8% to 143 TWh in 2023, renewables up 14%
- Canada's hydro dominated at 60% of 645 TWh total generation in 2023
- Saudi Arabia's generation grew 3% to 420 TWh in 2023, gas and oil heavy
Power Generation Interpretation
The world's electricity mix is undergoing a reluctant, coal-stained, but sun-and-wind-blessed transition, where every percentage point shift feels like a geopolitical chess move paid for in terawatt-hours.
Sustainability and Renewables
- Renewables share in final electricity consumption hit 29.5% in 2023 globally
- Solar PV capacity reached 1,419 GW globally end-2023, generating 1,600 TWh
- Wind capacity totaled 1,017 GW by end-2023, up 10%
- Global green hydrogen production for power sector integration was 10 Mt in 2023
- EU renewables generation hit 44% of electricity in 2023, 1,200 TWh
- US added 32 GW renewables capacity in 2023, solar 75%
- Corporate renewable procurement via PPAs was 100 GW in 2023
- Battery storage deployments hit 75 GW globally in 2023 cumulative
- Offshore wind added 10 GW in 2023, China leading with 6.3 GW
- Hydropower capacity stable at 1,350 GW globally end-2023
- Geothermal generation totaled 95 TWh in 2023 from 15 GW capacity
- Bioenergy for power produced 650 TWh in 2023, 2.3% share
- Decarbonization investments in power sector $1.2 trillion in 2023
- Coal phase-out progress: 15 countries retired 20 GW coal in 2023
- Carbon capture in power plants captured 45 MtCO2 in 2023 globally
- India's renewable capacity hit 180 GW end-2023, 42% of total
- Green grid interconnections: 50 new projects totaling 10 GW cross-border in 2023
- Demand-side flexibility saved 150 TWh peak demand in 2023 via DSM programs
Sustainability and Renewables Interpretation
The global energy transition is now unmistakably barreling down the tracks, powered by solar panels and wind turbines, backed up by batteries, and increasingly steered by corporate deals and smart grids, though it's still a race where we must build the bridge ahead of us while sprinting across it.
Transmission and Distribution
- Global high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines expanded by 5,000 km in 2023 for generation evacuation
- Worldwide transmission grid investment hit $362 billion in 2023, up 5% YoY
- The US added 1,200 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in 2023
- China's grid investment reached $170 billion in 2023, including 3,000 km UHVDC lines
- EU transmission losses averaged 2.5% of generated electricity in 2023, totaling 70 TWh
- Global smart grid market size was $45.8 billion in 2023, growing 18% CAGR
- India invested $14 billion in T&D infrastructure in FY2023, adding 15 GW evacuation capacity
- Distribution transformer demand surged 12% globally to 2.5 million units in 2023
- Africa's grid expansion added 2,500 km transmission lines in 2023
- Japan's microgrid installations grew 20% to 500 sites by 2023 for resilience
- Brazil's distribution losses reduced to 14.5% in 2023 from 15.2%
- Global submarine power cables installed reached 15 GW capacity in 2023
- US distribution automation systems covered 40% of feeders by end-2023
- Europe's interconnections exported 100 TWh net in 2023
- China's 1,100 kV UHVDC line capacity hit 80 GW by 2023
- Global T&D losses totaled 8.2% of generation or 2,400 TWh in 2023
- Australia's grid modernization invested AUD 20 billion 2021-2023
- Saudi Arabia's grid reliability reached 99.95% SAIDI in 2023
- Canada's interprovincial transmission capacity grew 5% to 50 GW in 2023
Transmission and Distribution Interpretation
Despite nations sprinting on wildly different tracks—from China's monumental grid investments to the EU's stubbornly leaky pipes, and from the US's incremental progress to Africa's hard-won kilometers—the global power sector in 2023 collectively shouted, "We're finally spending real money and building real stuff, but we're still losing enough electricity to power India twice over."
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