Signal Global power demand grows 3.6 percent a year and renewables overtake coal in 2025

Summary

The plan backs its energy diagnosis with three data points on electricity and renewables. Global electricity demand is projected to grow by an average of 3.6 percent a year between 2026 and 2030, about one and a half times the pace of the previous decade. In OECD countries, renewables supplied 35.8 percent of electricity in 2023. On a global generation basis, renewables overtook coal for the first time in 2025. The plan uses these figures to show that renewables are becoming the structural centre of power systems rather than a marginal supplement.