February 2024, total net Electricity production

The good news is electricity productivity is up. Natural gas is fueling the productivity increase in the Americas while its usage decreased globally. Coal usage is down. Too bad Manchin did not move West Virginia to better economics. Fossil fuels are still a large part of the production of electricity.

In February 2024, the total net electricity production in total OECD reached 869.1 TWh, marking a 2.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

Electricity generation from fossil fuels amounted to 397.3 TWh in February 2024, exhibiting a decline of 5.2% (equivalent to 21.8 TWh) compared to February 2023. This reduction was largely driven by lower electricity output from coal, which experienced an 8.3% year-on-year decrease, followed by gas with a decrease of 3.3% year-on-year. The decrease in coal-fired electricity generation was evident across all OECD regions, with OECD Europe experiencing the most significant decline at 20.3% year-on-year, followed by OECD Asia Oceania at 4.0% year-on-year and the OECD Americas at 3.3% year-on-year. The drop in natural gas electricity production was observed in OECD Europe (-26.4% y-o-y) and OECD Asia Oceania (-3.5% y-o-y). Whereas the OECD Americas witnessed a 5.9% y-o-y increase. Overall, fossil fuels accounted for 45.7% of the electricity mix.

Electricity production from renewable sources increased by 11.4% y-o-y at 320.0 TWh in February 2024. This growth is primarily driven from increasing electricity generation from wind power. OECD Europe leading the trend with a notable 29.8% year-on-year increase, equivalent to 15.1 TWh. Hydropower generation also experienced a significant rise of 9.8% year-on-year, driven by increased output in OECD Europe (+34.4% y-o-y) and OECD Asia Oceania (+21.9% y-o-y), although it declined in the OECD Americas by 7.9% year-on-year. Solar power generation continued its upward trend, with significant increases observed in the OECD Americas (+30.4% y-o-y) and in OECD Europe (+9.9% y-o-y). Overall, renewables sources contributed 36.8% to total electricity production in February 2024, marking an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the same month in the previous year.

Nuclear electricity production reached 149.2 TWh in February 2024, reflecting a 6.0% increase compared to the same month last year. This growth was attributable to increased nuclear output across all OECD regions, with the OECD Americas leading with a 5.4% year-on-year increase, followed by OECD Asia Oceania (+13.2% y-o-y) and OECD Europe (+4.2% y-o-y). Overall, nuclear power contributed 17.2% to the electricity mix.

Monthly Electricity Statistics – Data product – IEA