While Oklahoma deals with increased demand for electricity production, more data center announcements and opposition to wind and solar energy projects, the world is seeing an increase in total electricity generation.
A report from the International Energy Agency through the OECD or Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, shows fossil fuels remain the largest source for fuel to generate electricity across the globe, but there is an increase in solar generation in some countries.
At the same time, there is a recorded decline in nuclear and hydro power.
In March 2025, total net electricity generation in the OECD reached 908.7 TWh, an increase of 3.1% compared to March 2024. Of this total, 392.9 TWh (43.2%) was produced from fossil fuels, 358.7 TWh (39.5%) from renewable sources and 153.2 TWh (16.9%) from nuclear power. On a year-to-date basis, total net electricity production increased by 3.5% in the first quarter of 2025.
Electricity generation from fossil fuels increased by 1.2% year-on-year in the OECD in March 2025. Generation from natural gas decreased by 2.6% year-on-year (-6.4 TWh), and generation from coal increased by 8.7% y-o-y (+10.7 TWh). The shares of natural gas, coal and oil as a percentage of total electricity generation were 26.7%, 14.8% and 1.2%, respectively. The increase in coal-fired electricity generation was driven by the OECD Americas (+24.0% y-o-y, +11.2 TWh) and OECD Europe (5.2% y-o-y, +1.7 TWh)., whereas generation decreased in OECD Asia Oceania (-4.8% y-o-y, -2.1 TWh) Notable increases were observed in the United States (+27.3% y-o-y, +11.1 TWh) and in Germany (+16.9% y-o-y, +1.6 TWh). On a year-to-date basis, electricity generation from coal increased by 8.0% in the OECD (+35.3 TWh).
Electricity generation from renewable sources increased by 4.5% year-on-year (+15.6 TWh) in the OECD in March 2025. The output from solar generation continues to increase (+28.8% y-o-y, +18.9 TWh), counter-balancing the decrease observed in hydro generation (-6.6% y-o-y, -8.8 TWh). This trend was mainly driven by OECD Europe, where electricity generation from hydro dropped by 18.1% y-o-y (or -11.3 TWh), driven by France (-2.0 TWh), Italy (-1.4 TWh), Switzerland (-1.5 TWh) and Türkiye (-1.3 TWh). On the other hand, electricity generation from wind increased in the OECD (+3.1% y-o-y, +3.5 TWh), amounting to 115.0 TWh.
Nuclear power generation increased 4.8% year-on-year (+7.0 TWh) in the OECD in March 2025. Nuclear power production increased in OECD Europe (7.1% y-o-y, +3.8 TWh) and OECD Asia Oceania (+15.3%, +3.3TWh), while in the OECD Americas it remained stable (-0.2% y-o-y, -0.1 TWh). On a year-to-date basis, OECD Asia Oceania saw the largest increase in nuclear production (+16.5%, +10.5 TWh) in the first quarter of 2025.
Highlight of the month
Electricity generation from solar increased drastically in India on a year-on-year basis (+37.5%, +4.7 TWh), to a share of 9.8% of total electricity generation in the country, as depicted in the graph below. Electricity generation from other low-carbon sources also increased sharply on a year-on-year basis: +17.4% (+0.6 TWh) for nuclear, +25.4% (+1.9TWh) for hydro, +12.1% (+0.6TWh) for wind. On the other hand, electricity generation from combustible renewables decreased (-12.6%, -0.6 TWh y-o-y).
