Electric power in OECD countries is mostly produced by large central generating stations, then transmitted along high voltage lines to local distribution systems that carry it to final consumers. Distributed generation plants are different. They produce power on an electricity consumer’s own...

This is the first ever Electricity Market Report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Designed to complement other reports in the Market Report Series on energy efficiency, renewables, coal, natural gas and oil, this report focuses on developments in the world’s electricity...

When the IEA published its first Electricity Market Report in December 2020, large parts of the world were in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting lockdowns. Half a year later, electricity demand around the world is rebounding or even exceeding pre-pandemic levels, especially in...

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal, and an increasingly important participant on the international coal market. Paradoxically, while China is now a major coal exporter, it is also a coal importer. As China commits itself to further economic reform and increased...

In 2005, China added the equivalent of all the power plants in Norway and Sweden to its electricity generating capacity - and its remarkable demand growth shows no sign of abating. But how can the government best assure affordable and environmentally sustainable electricity supply in the future?...

This booklet gives an introduction to the issues raised by regulatory reform of the electricity sector. The sector is undergoing change worldwide. A key objective of reform is to improve efficiency in order to reduce prices for electricity consumers. More competitive power markets are required...

The year 2021 placed exceptional demands on electricity markets around the world. Strong economic growth, combined with more extreme weather conditions than in 2020, including a colder than average winter, boosted global electricity demand by more than 6% – the largest increase since the...