India To Witness Highest Energy Demand Growth, Says International Energy Agency

As ownership of air conditioners in India has almost tripled since 2010, the country's demand for electricity for running household air conditioners is estimated to grow nine-fold by 2050 and will surpass total power consumption in the whole of Africa today, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday.

In its latest World Energy Outlook, the IEA stated that India will witness the largest energy demand growth of any country or region in the world over the next three decades.

India's energy supply is projected to rise from 42 exajoules (EJ) in 2022 to 53.7 EJ in 2030 and 73 EJ in 2050 under stated policy scenarios, and 47.6 EJ by 2030 and 60.3 EJ by 2050 according to the announced pledges.

Meanwhile, Oil demand has seen an increase from 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2022 to 6.8 million bpd in 2030 and 7.8 million bpd in 2050 under the stated policy scenario. This demand seeks 6.2 million bpd in 2030 and 4.7 million bpd in 2050, under the announced pledges.

According to IEA, India has witnessed over 700 heatwave events over the past five decades, which have claimed more than 17,000 lives. In view of the country's geographic and meteorological conditions, air conditioner ownership has been steadily rising in India with growing incomes, tripling since 2010 to reach 24 units per 100 households.

"The impact of cooling needs on electricity consumption is already clear," said IEA.

Electricity consumption due to space cooling increased 21% between 2019 and 2022, and today nearly 10% of electricity demand comes from space cooling requirements.