In for a shock: Global electricity demand on the rise

Global demand for electricity could rise by over 70 per cent between 2010 and 2035 driven largely by rising demand from emerging economies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

That was an annual average of 2.2 per cent per year, the IEA said in its World Energy Outlook.  Over 80 per cent of the growth in the power sector will come from non-OECD countries, with China (38 per cent) and India (13 per cent) taking the lion’s share, the IEA said.

“Global generating capacity expands by almost three-quarters, from 5,429 gigawatts (GW) in 2011 to 9,340 GW by 2035,” the report said.

The expansion is equivalent to around 4,000 standard-sized power stations.