Total net electricity production among OECD membership countries amounted to 819.7 TWh in April 2024, increasing by 2.9%, or 23.3 TWh, compared to the same month in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency’s ‘Monthly Electricity Statistics’.
Electricity production from fossil fuels totalled 341.6 TWh, down by 3.5% or 12.4 TWh compared to April 2023. This decrease was mainly driven by a sharp decline in electricity output from coal (-8.3% y-o-y), while electricity generation from natural gas only dropped by 1.0% year-on-year. Although lower electricity production from coal was observed in all OECD regions, the most significant drop was observed in OECD Europe (-21.5% y-o-y). Overall, the share of fossil fuels in the OECD electricity mix fell to 41.7%, approximately three percentage points lower than in April 2024.
Total electricity production from renewable sources grew by 11.7% y-o-y at 341.3 TWh, with positive year-on-year variations for all major renewable technologies. In particular, wind power generation increased by 19.1% y-o-y, driven by strong output in OECD Europe (+26.5% y-o-y) and in the OECD Americas (+13.0% y-o-y). Similarly, electricity generation from solar power increased by 16.1% y-o-y, with the most significant variations being registered again in the Americas (+23.2% y-o-y) and in Europe (+18.5% y-o-y). Hydropower production grew to a lesser extent by 6.4% y-o-y, as increased output in Europe (+24.2% y-o-y) was mitigated by a significant decline in the Americas (-7.7% y-o-y). Renewable sources accounted for 41.6% of total OECD electricity production in April 2024, up by around three percentage points compared to April 2023.
Nuclear electricity production remained in line with the previous year’s levels at 133.1 TWh, as increased nuclear output in OECD Asia Oceania (+13.5% y-o-y) compensated for reduced generation in Europe (-3.5% y-o-y) and in the Americas (-1.4% y-o-y). Overall, the share of nuclear power in the electricity mix was stable at 16.2%.
Notably, a steep rise of 7.8 TWh in electricity production was recorded in Columbia in April this year, up by 13.0% compared to the same month last year. The hydro power output decreased by 40.1% y-o-y, reaching a record-low share of 39.6% in the electricity mix. This trend was caused by a drought associated with El Niño climate phenomenon, in which Colombia’s hydropower reservoirs reached near-critical levels, leading also to halted electricity exports to the neighbouring country Ecuador. This hydro output’s decline was compensated by higher electricity generation from fossil fuels (+193.8% y-o-y), which represented 55.1% of the electricity mix.
