Which Countries Produced and Consumed the Most Renewables in 2022?

According to the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, which was published by the Energy Institute (EI) recently, China was the country with the highest renewable power generation figure in 2022, at 13.2 exajoules.

That figure was 32.3 percent of the total renewable power generation last year, the review highlighted. China had an 18.3 percent annual growth rate in renewable power generation last year and a 25.2 percent annual growth rate from 2012 to 2022, the review pointed out. The country’s renewable power generation came in at 11.16 exajoules in 2021, 8.44 exajoules in 2020, 7.27 exajoules in 2019, and 1.4 exajoules in 2012, according to the review.

The U.S. came second last year, in terms of renewable power generation, with 6.87 exajoules, while Germany came in third, with 2.33 exajoules, the review showed. The U.S. figure marked 16.8 percent of the world total and Germany’s figure marked 5.7 percent of the total, the review outlined. In 2022, renewable power generation grew 15 percent year on year in the U.S. and 9.5 percent year on year in Germany, according to the review.

Total world renewable power generation last year was 40.86 exajoules, of which, OECD countries contributed 20.96 exajoules and non-OECD countries contributed 19.9 exajoules, EI’s review outlined. The European Union was shown to have contributed 7.88 exajoules to that total, which grew 14 percent year on year in 2022 and from 2012 to 2022, the review revealed.

Wind was the largest source of China’s renewable energy generation in 2022, at 762.7 Terawatt Hours (TH), the review outlined, highlighting that solar made up 427.7 TH while other renewables made up 176.6 TH for China last year. Wind was also the largest source of U.S. and Germany renewable energy generation in 2022, at 439.2 TH and 125.3 TH, respectively. The renewable source made up 2,104.8 TH of the total world 4,204.3 TH last year, according to the review.

Renewable Energy Consumption

In addition to being the country with the largest renewable energy generation last year, China was the country with the most renewable energy consumption in 2022, the review showed.

China consumed 13.3 exajoules of renewable energy last year, which was an 18.1 percent increase year on year and 29.4 percent of the world’s total renewable consumption for 2022, the EI review highlighted. From 2012 to 2022, China’s renewable energy consumption has grown 24.5 percent according to the review, which pointed out that China’s renewables consumption came in at 11.27 exajoules in 2021, 8.52 exajoules in 2020, 7.38 exajoules in 2019, and 1.49 exajoules in 2012.

The U.S. was the second biggest consumer of renewable energy last year, with 8.43 exajoules, and Germany was the third largest, with 2.45 exajoules, the review revealed. U.S. renewables consumption in 2022 was 18.7 percent of the world’s total that year, while Germany’s consumption was 5.4 percent of the world’s total, the EI review outlined. In 2022, renewable power consumption increased 12.8 percent year on year in the U.S. and 9.0 percent year on year in Germany, the review highlighted.  

Total world renewable power consumption in 2022 was 45.18 exajoules, of which, OECD countries contributed 23.53 exajoules and non-OECD countries contributed 21.64 exajoules, EI’s review outlined. The European Union was shown to have contributed 8.63 exajoules to this total, which was shown in the review to have grown 13 percent year on year in 2022 and 12.6 percent year on year from 2012 to 2022.

EI, BP Review

The 2023 statistical review of world energy is the EI’s first, and the overall 72nd, edition of the review. It had previously been published by BP since 1952. Back in February this year, BP and EI announced in a joint statement that the new “custodian” of the Statistical Review of World Energy would be EI.

BP’s latest annual statistical review of world energy, which was published last year, showed that the biggest producer of renewables in 2021 was China with a renewable energy generation figure of 1,152.5 TH. The U.S. had the second highest renewable energy production figure in 2021 at 624.5 TH, while Germany had the third highest at 217.6 TH, according to BP’s review.

China was also the biggest renewable energy consumer in 2021 with 11.32 exajoules, BP revealed in its review, which showed that the U.S. had the second highest renewable energy consumption figure in 2021 at 7.48 exajoules, while Germany had the third highest at 2.28 exajoules.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com