Global Electricity Demand Surged 6% In 2021

Rebounding economies and extreme weather last year led to a 6-percent jump in global electricity demand, the largest percentage increase since the 2010 recovery from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Electricity Market Report on Friday. Soaring power demand as the world recovered from the 2020 lockdowns put enormous strain on the coal and natural gas supply chains, pushing up wholesale electricity prices. Although renewables continued to grow, coal and gas-fired electricity generation reached record…