Photovoltaics (PV) leads the growth of energy production in OECD countries

Photovoltaic generation increased by 19.7%, according to the IEA monthly report. In OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries, total net electricity production was 854.4 TWh in May 2024, an increase of 3.7% compared to the same month of the year past. This is stated in the Monthly Electricity Statistics of the IEA (International Energy Agency).

This overall increase was led by strong generation from renewable sources (+6.6% year-on-year), driven primarily by solar energy, which increased 19.7% year-on-year, and to a lesser extent by wind energy (+5 .8% year-on-year).

Hydropower generation remained in line with previous year levels (-0.2% year-on-year), as production in OECD Americas (-11.6% year-on-year) and OECD Asia-Oceania (-11 .6% year-on-year) was lower. YoY) was offset by a significant recovery in OECD Europe (+16.8% YoY).

The proportion of renewable sources in the OECD electricity mix stood at 39.4%, one percentage point more than in May 2023. Electricity production from fossil sources grew marginally by 0.5% compared to the previous year.

According to the IEA, the reduction in electricity generation from fossil fuels in OECD Europe (-11.4% year-on-year) and OECD Asia-Oceania (-5.5% year-on-year) was offset by a significant increase in OECD America (+6.6% y/y). In this region, the jump in fossil fuel-based energy production was mainly due to greater dependence on natural gas plants (+6.9% year-on-year).
Overall, fossil fuels provided 43.4% of total OECD electricity generation in May 2024, a drop of 1.4 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

In OECD Europe, total net electricity reached 266.4 TWh in May 2024, an increase of 3% compared to May 2023. Despite a decrease in energy production from fuels fossil fuels (-11.4% year-on-year), this decrease was offset by significant growth in electricity production from renewable (+9.6% year-on-year) and nuclear (+5.5% year-on-year) sources.

The increase in renewable energy was mainly due to the increase in solar (+18.3% year-on-year) and hydroelectric production (+16.8% year-on-year). Photovoltaic generation reached a record 14.9% share of the electricity mix, while hydropower recovered from drought conditions that significantly reduced production the previous year.