Monthly Electricity Statistics

Total net electricity output in the OECD Americas reached 438.1 TWh in March 2023, an increase of 1.7% on a year-over-year basis². Higher electricity generation from fossil fuels (+4.5% y-o-y) drove the upward trend, making up 50.4% of the total amount of electricity. Electricity generation from renewable source decreased by -1.0%, with hydropower leading this trend with a -4.7% y-o-y decline, amounting to 67.8 TWh.  On a year-to date-basis electricity generation decreased by 3.2% in the first quarter of 2023, driven by lower power output from fossil fuels (-5.6% y-t-d).

In Canada nuclear power generation decreased by 4.0% year-over-year, amounting to 6.8 TWh in March 2023. Similarly, electricity generated by fossil fuels decreased by -0.82% (year-on-year) or -74.8 TWh, accounting for 15.8% of total electricity. Conversely, electricity generation from hydro and solar rose by 2.2% y-o-y and 128.3% y-o-y respectively, while wind reported a 7.3% y-o-y decrease. Overall, renewable energy sources continued to be the main contributor with a share of 72.3% in the electricity mix.

In Chile, net electricity production amounted to 7.8 TWh in March 2023, up by 2.2% y-o-y. Along with the high share of renewables in the electricity mix (55.0%), power generation from natural gas has increased significantly during the reference period, with a +30.8% rise y-o-y or 489.6 TWh. In contrast, coal production dropped by 37.7% reaching 1.3 TWh.

In OECD Asia Oceania, total net electricity production was 151.6 TWh in March 2023, 5.5% lower than in March 2022 due to lower production from fossil fuels (-14.8% y-o-y). On a year-to-date basis, electricity generation decreased by 4.9% in the first quarter of 2023.

The decrease of electricity generation from fossil fuel sources was also visible in Korea in March 2023 (-12.3% y-o-y), along with lower production from natural gas power plants (-14.9% y-o-y), and coal fired plants (-9.4% y-o-y). Power generation from nuclear plants (+9.6% y-o-y) and solar energy (+33.8% y-o-y) helped bridge the generation gap.

In Australia, in the first quarter of 2023, total net electricity generation remained stable compared to the same quarter in 2022, but with a higher representation of renewable sources in the mix (38.4% in March 2023). Solar energy contributed the most to this increase with an increase of 21.2% (y-t-d) in the first quarter.

In OECD Europe, total net electricity amounted to 298.0 TWh in March 2023, down by 3.9% compared to March 2022. Higher electricity production from renewable sources (11.1% y-o-y), mainly driven by wind (+33.0% y-o-y) could not compensate the decline observed in production from fossil fuels (-18.8% y-o-y) and nuclear (-7.5% y-o-y). On a year-to-date basis, production from fossil fuels (-10.9% y-t-d) and nuclear (-8.2% y-t-d) also decreased compared to the first quarter of 2022. Production from renewables slightly increased driven by wind (4.8% y-t-d) and solar (12.0% y-t-d).

In Belgium, total net electricity was 7.3 TWh in March 2023, down by 7.7% y-t-d compared to the first quarter of 2022. Production from nuclear declined by 22.9% y-t-d following the shutdown of a nuclear reactor unit at the Tihange power plant, at the end of January 2023. This decrease could only be partially mitigated by the increase observed in production from fossil fuels (6.0% y-t-d) and renewables (6.6% y-t-d). Renewable sources reached a record-high share of 33.5% in the electricity mix in March 2023, mainly driven by wind (15.7% y-t-d).

In France, total net electricity amounted to 42.9 TWh in March 2023, down by 4.0% y-t-d compared to March 2022. Production from nuclear and fossil fuels decreased by 7.0% y-t-d and 14.3% y-t-d respectively. At the same time, electricity production from renewable sources increased by 9.7% y-t-d, driven by wind (24.7% y-t-d) and solar (12.4% y-t-d). Wind-generated electricity reached a record-high share of 12.8% in the electricity mix in March 2023, also thanks to new wind turbines installations.  

In China, electricity production from hydropower was low at 73.9 TWh in March 2023, down by 15.1% compared to the same month last year. Over the first quarter of 2023, hydropower electricity production decreased by 7.0% y-t-d, as weather conditions in the country were overall hotter and drier than usual. In particular, the province of Yunnan, where several hydropower plants are located, has been suffering from a severe drought since the beginning of the year.

In Bulgaria, electricity production from solar amounted to 214.6 GWh in March 2023, up by 40.7% or 62.1 GWh compared to March 2022. Throughout the first three months of 2023, Bulgaria has registered strong solar electricity output (+ 28.9% y-t-d), which was the direct result of significant capacity additions in the country over the course of 2022.