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Nuclear Generation / US EIA Forecasts Worldwide Growth, But Warns Of Decline In Europe

By David Dalton
7 October 2021

US EIA Forecasts Worldwide Growth, But Warns Of Decline In Europe
The Hunterston B nuclear station in England, where two units are scheduled to shut down in 2022. Courtesy EDF Energy.
Worldwide nuclear generation increases by 15% until 2050, but in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) regions it decreases by almost one-third, half of which occurs in OECD Europe, according to projections by the US Energy Information Administration.

In its International Energy Outlook 2021, the EIA says as coal-fired and nuclear generation decreases by almost one-third relative to 2020 levels, and natural gas-fired generation stays relatively flat, the share of renewables in the OECD Europe region increases from much less than half of the generation mix in 2020 to almost three-quarters by 2050.

This increase occurs as the use of non-renewable energy resources shifts from being the primary source of electricity toward serving as reliability support for the rising amounts of renewable energy.

According to the IEA, in the absence of significant changes in policy or technology, world energy consumption will grow by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2050. The EIA projects that strong economic growth, particularly with developing economies in Asia, will drive global increases in energy consumption despite pandemic-related declines and long-term improvements in energy efficiency.

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