BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 13. Global electricity production from both natural gas and coal is expected to remain broadly stable between 2022 and 2025, Trend reports via the latest electricity market update from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the report, the sharp rise in fossil fuel prices following war in Ukraine also exacerbated the supply situation in 2022, especially of gas. Relatively higher rises in natural gas and LNG prices caused a worldwide shift to coal for electricity generation.
"Global coal-fired generation rose by 1.5 percent in 2022, with the largest absolute increases in the Asia Pacific region. Coal-fired generation also rose significantly in the EU amid low hydro and nuclear output," the IEA said.
However, as the agency noted, while the EU is expected to see a decrease in gas-fired electricity generation, significant growth forecast for the Middle East will partially balance out the overall decline.
Thus, the IEA expects global gas-fired electricity production to stagnate on average until 2025, after a 3 percent decline in 2023, then a 1.4 percent increase in 2024, and 2 percent growth in 2025.
"Similarly, drops in coal-fired generation in Europe and the Americas will be matched by a rise in Asia Pacific. However, the trends in fossil-fired generation remain subject to developments in the global economy, weather events, fuel prices and government policies. Developments in China, where more than half of the world’s coalfired generation occurs, will remain a key factor," the outlook noted.