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Global power demand falls 15%
GLOBAL
THE current global coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has highlighted how much the modern economy relies on electricity, the International Energy Authority (IEA) has claimed.
In a report this week, the body noted that global electricity demand had declined by around 15% since widespread confinement and social distancing measures were put in place.
However, IEA executive director Fatih Birol also noted that the changes had illustrated the central role of reliable power supplies and uni- versal access to electricity.
“Millions of people are now confined to their homes, resorting to teleworking to do their jobs, e-commerce sites to do their shopping, and streaming video platforms to find entertainment. A reliable electricity supply underpins all of these services,” Birol said.
Conversely, in parts of Africa and Asia that do not have universal power access, “hundreds of millions of people live without any access to electricity, making them far more vulnerable to disease and other dangers,” Birol said.
Meanwhile, the sudden fall in power demand, caused largely by declining industrial activity, meant that in some areas with well-developed renewables industries, such as Spain and Califor- nia, “the share of variable renewables like wind and solar can become higher than normal.”
This means that some power systems have “fast-forwarded 10 years into the future.”
Put simply, governments and system opera- tors have had to learn how to cope with lower demand, a problem which until now has often caused power cuts.
Looking ahead, Birol said that the long-term task for government and regulators was to make networks tougher by investing in underground cables and decentralised storage – and by design- ing network layouts that are resilient to emer- gency situations such as hurricanes and floods.
Also, digitalisation has made networks more efficient and flexible, although they are also more vulnerable to cyberattacks. As such, cybersecu- rity must be put at the heart of how electricity systems are managed and operated, Birol urged.
The IEA’s warnings come after it took the unusual decision on March 16 to issue a joint declaration with OPEC, warning that oil pro- ducers in the developing world could see their oil and gas income drop by 50-85% in 2020 as demand drops and prices go below $20.
This would likely to have major social and economic consequences, notably for public sec- tor spending in vital areas such as healthcare and education.
Birol’s comments this week about electricity add to this, warning that low access to power rates puts the world’s poorest people at more risk from infection. But at the same time, the global power sector has the opportunity to learn about the power systems of the future.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 12 26•March•2020