Electricity: the engine of the future.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its mid-year report with a clear conclusion: electricity will be the driving force of this decade’s energy system. Despite economic uncertainties, global demand is set to rise by 3.3% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026—more than twice the growth projected for overall energy demand.

This surge is fuelled by the electrification of industry, households and mobility, alongside the boom in data centres, cooling systems and electric vehicles. Electricity is thus consolidating its role as the essential vector of both the energy transition and global economic development.

For the first time in history, renewables are about to overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electricity generation. According to the IEA, this could happen as early as 2025. Solar and wind power lead this transformation, providing clean, competitive, and secure electricity for millions.

This progress is driven not only by climate concerns but also by economic efficiency: today, renewables are the cheapest form of electricity generation in most markets.

The report also highlights a record increase in nuclear generation, particularly in Japan, the United States, France, and Asia. 

While nuclear may support decarbonisation in certain countries, its slower, more costly development limits its potential as a global solution.

In the coming years, global power sector CO₂ emissions will hit a turning point: stabilising and beginning to decline from 2026.

The International Energy Agency highlights several reasons:

• the accelerated deployment of renewable energies
• greater efficiency of the power system 
• in some countries, the support of nuclear generation, which is limiting the use of fossil fuels.

The EU will lead this trend, with reductions approaching 10% per year, consolidating its role as a global decarbonisation benchmark.

China will also record significant declines, while globally, the carbon intensity of electricity will fall by an average of 3.7% annually until 2026.

This progress confirms that the energy transition is already delivering tangible results, paving the way to a cleaner and more sustainable electric future.

The IEA warns that the success of this transition depends on investment in power grids, storage, and system flexibility. Only with these in place can the relentless growth in demand be met securely, efficiently, and affordably.

Emerging economies such as China and India will account for 60% of global electricity demand growth in 2025 and 2026. Their consumption is expected to rise by 5.7% and 6.6% respectively in 2026. 

In the US, the expansion of data centres will keep annual growth above 2%. Europe, in contrast, is advancing more slowly, with just 1% growth this year and only a slight acceleration in 2026.

Spain is experiencing sustained electricity demand growth—between January and June 2025, demand rose by 2.5% year-on-year (1.2% after calendar and temperature adjustments).

This increase comes as renewables have already far outpaced fossil fuels: in 2024, 50.4% of all electricity generated came from renewables, with wind surpassing gas.
 

In May 2025 alone, renewables reached 61.5% of the mix, with zero-emission technologies accounting for 76.3%, led by solar PV as the top individual source.
 

Furthermore, data centres—whose global demand is set to double by 2026, according to the IEA—are already a key driver in Spain. Their continuous consumption and long-term direct purchase agreements are boosting renewable projects and self-consumption, particularly in urban and sustainable contexts.