The 15 November issue of the International Energy Agency’s Monthly Electricity Statistics report, which includes August 2023 data, shows that for the whole OECD membership total net electricity production amounted to 979.5 TWh in August 2023, up by 0.8% compared to the same month last year.
Electricity production from fossil fuels totalled 530.8 TWh in August 2023, down by 2.5% or 13.4 TWh compared to August 2022. This decrease was mainly driven by a sharp decline in electricity output from coal (-11.2% y-o-y), while natural gas experienced a moderate increase (+2.5% y-o-y). Overall, the share of fossil fuels in the OECD electricity mix settled at 54.2%, 1.8% lower than in August 2022.
Total electricity production from renewable sources grew by 5.6% y-o-y, with wind power leading this trend (+19.5% y-o-y), followed by solar power (+17.3% y-o-y). These two renewable technologies offset a reduced output from hydropower (-3.6% y-o-y). Renewables accounted for 30.2% of total OECD electricity production, higher by one percentage point compared to August 2022.
Nuclear electricity production amounted to 149.9 TWh in August 2023, marking a 3.8% y-o-y increase with higher generation being observed in all OECD regions. The share of nuclear power in the OECD electricity mix settled at 15.3%, 0.4% higher compared to August 2022.
A record high for total net electricity production was reached in India, at 167.8 TWh in August up by 17.9% or 25.5 TWh compared to August last year. The main cause was extremely hot weather conditions in the country. With increasing penetration of cooling appliances, India’s power system is in fact becoming more and more sensitive to high temperatures. The additional electricity generation was provided mostly by fossil fuels (+20.0% y-o-y), with remarkable contributions also from renewable technologies such as wind (+47.5% y-o-y) and solar (+36.8% y-o-y).
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