Analysis of power structure of countries in the world

Electricity comes from primary sources. Primary energy can be divided into two categories according to whether it can be renewable:

(1) Non-renewable energy. It refers to the natural energy that cannot be produced repeatedly, which is becoming less and less with the use of human beings, such as fossil energy (such as coal, oil, natural gas) and nuclear fuel (such as uranium, thorium, etc.).

(2) Renewable energy. Refers to the natural energy that can be produced repeatedly, that is, it will not be reduced with its own transformation or human utilization, such as solar energy, water energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, biomass energy, tidal energy, etc.

Energy structure refers to the proportion of primary energy production or consumption, expressed in %; The power mix refers to the proportion of electricity from primary sources, also expressed in %. Due to the different geographical locations of countries, the degree of resource wealth is different, and even far apart, which constitutes the power structure of different countries in the world.

This data is calculated based on the data reported by BP in 2022. At present, the global energy is in an era of transition, and the carbon zero emission energy is in the rising stage, and the carbon zero emission degree is composed of (nuclear + hydropower + renewable energy + other)/ total, expressed in %.

The fossil fuels mentioned in this paper are composed of crude oil, natural gas and raw coal. Non-renewable energy sources consist of fossil and nuclear fuels. Green energy consists of hydropower, renewable energy and others. "Other" means pumped storage, urban waste power generation, etc.

World electricity structure by country in 2021

Global fossil fuel power generation is still dominant (2.5+22.9+36.0)=61.4%, of which coal-fired power generation is low cost, occupying the dominant position in the power market.

As can be seen from the table, coal-fired power generation is still increasing year by year, but the percentage of coal-fired power generation in the total global power generation is decreasing year by year. The reason for this is that nuclear power generation and renewable power generation are increasing year by year and squeezing out the percentage of coal generation.

The percentage of global electricity generation generated by coal is declining year by year

(2) Due to the different geographical locations, the order of energy generation is not the same:

The order of global power generation: coal-fired power generation, gas-fired power generation and hydroelectric power generation;

(2) China: coal-fired power generation, hydroelectric power generation and renewable energy generation;

United States: gas-fired power generation, coal-fired power generation and nuclear power generation.

(3) Renewable energy generation is dominated by hydropower, followed by wind power and photovoltaic power generation, whose prices are already comparable to fossil fuel power generation.

(4) The United States has a higher level of zero carbon emissions (38.9%) than China (34.1%), because the United States ranks first in the world in nuclear power generation. If you leave out nuclear power, China generates more electricity from renewable sources than the United States. See "The Great Game between China and the United States in Installed Renewable Energy Capacity".

(5) Countries with carbon zero emissions higher than the world average of 38.5% are Canada 81.7%, Brazil 79.6%, Ukraine (69.2%), Spain (69.6%), Germany (56.1%).

(6) China is not a large country of raw coal resources, its recoverable reserves are much lower than the United States and Russia, but China is a large country of coal-fired power generation, the global coal-fired power generation in 2021 reached 10244.0TWh, China is up to 5339.1 TWh, accounting for 5339.1/10244.0=52.1% of the global total. The largest coal-fired Power Station in the world is in China - Tuoketuo Power Station with an installed capacity of 6,720 MW. The next largest coal-fired power generation countries are the United States 078.5TWh, Germany 162.6TWh, South Africa 209.6 TWh, Russia 204.7TWh, Poland 131.7 TWh, and South Korea 211. 7TWh(see BP 2022 report).

Coal power generation dominates the global power generation share with 10244.0/28466.3=36.0%. The countries above 36.0% are 85.4% in South Africa, 73.2% in Poland, 74.1% in India, 62.6% in China, 60.6% in Kazakhstan, 51.4% in Australia and 61.4% in Indonesia. (See BP 2022 report).

(8) The Asia-Pacific region is the region with the highest coal-fired power generation, accounting for 56.9% of the region's power generation share.

The success of shale gas exploitation in the United States has aroused the world's attention and a voice of praise. While coal-fired power generation remains high in many countries, the share of electricity generated by gas in the United States has surpassed that of coal. The United States fossil fuel power generation 0.5+38.4+22.2=61.1%, equivalent to the world average of 62.0%, the United States does not show the pace of renewable energy, delayed the development of renewable energy power generation.