The 2022 Energy Crisis: A Tipping Point for Clean Energy

The global energy crisis of 2022 sent shockwaves in the energy markets.

The crisis acted as a double-edged sword—on one hand, consumers felt the pinch of rising energy prices, but on the other hand, it became a turning point for clean energy, spurring action from governments to cut dependence on fossil fuels.

This infographic from the National Public Utilities Council explores how the energy crisis accelerated the growth of clean energy and nuclear power.

Shockwaves From the Energy Crisis

Although the consequences of the crisis were felt in 2022, its roots go back to 2020 when energy demand dipped during the pandemic.

Following the unprecedented fall in demand, energy markets tightened in 2021 as the global economy rebounded to grow at the fastest pace since 1973. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine escalated the situation, creating a full-scale energy crisis.

As a result, energy prices soared to their highest levels in decades, resulting in rampant inflation worldwide. This highlighted how many nations remained dependent on fossil fuels for energy, in turn creating a tipping point for clean energy.

Clean Energy Turns the Corner

Countries including the United States, the UK, and many EU member states have supercharged clean energy investment over the last two years, partly in response to the energy crisis.

Here’s how global government spending for clean energy has grown since July 2021, as tracked by the IEA:

• $380 billion as of July 2021
• $470 billion as of October 2021
• $714 billion as of March 2022
• $1,215 billion as of November 2022

European countries deployed funding for energy efficiency and low-carbon power generation (through REPowerEU) in response to natural gas supply disruptions from Russia. In August of 2022, the U.S. signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, providing over $390 billion in clean energy and climate funding.

Consequently, clean energy technologies are growing at an unprecedented rate. The IEA forecasts that global renewable electricity capacity additions from 2022 to 2027 (2,383 GW) will nearly equal all the renewable capacity added between 2001 and 2021 (2,409 GW).

Nuclear Turnaround

Besides renewables, nuclear power has seen a resurgence as governments look for a reliable energy source to replace fossil generation.

Here’s a look at the top 10 countries by the number of prospective nuclear reactors based on the Global Nuclear Power Tracker. This includes announced, pre-construction, and under-construction reactors.

Besides the countries building and planning reactors, others have reversed their plans to phase out nuclear power:

• Germany extended the lifetime of three plants that were set to shut down in 2022.
• France reversed course to reduce reliance on nuclear, with a plan to build six new reactors.
• Japan accelerated the restarts of nine reactors by winter 2022 and a further seven by summer 2023.

The impact of this accelerated clean energy deployment is already evident.

In 2022, the growth of clean energy technologies helped avoid 550 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions, according to the IEA. On the other hand, a decline in nuclear power generation led to an additional 55 million tonnes in CO₂ emissions, highlighting the importance of nuclear in reducing emissions.

Click here to learn more about how electric utilities and the power sector can lead on the path toward decarbonization.

The 30 Largest Hydropower Plants in the U.S.

Did you know that the largest power plant in the United States is hydroelectric?

Hydropower is the second-largest source of U.S. renewable electricity generation and the largest source of power in seven different states.

The above infographic from the National Public Utilities Council charts the 30 largest U.S. hydropower plants and shows how droughts are starting to affect hydroelectricity. This is part one of two in the Hydropower Series.

Dam, That’s Large: U.S. Hydropower Plants by Generation

The top 30 hydropower plants account for around 50% of U.S. hydroelectric generation annually.

Hydropower plants are most prevalent in the Northwestern states of Washington and Oregon, jointly hosting 16 of the top 30 plants.

The Grand Coulee Dam in Washington is the country’s largest power plant. It generates over 19.5 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually and supplies it to eight states, including parts of Canada. Overall, 10 of the top 30 hydropower plants are in Washington.

The Robert Moses Power Plant is a close second, located around 5 miles downstream from Niagara Falls. Combined with the nearby Lewiston Pump Generation Plant, it is New York’s single-largest source of electricity.

While hydropower is a relatively reliable renewable power source, prolonged dry conditions can put it at risk. That is the case for both the Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams, which are no longer running at previous capacities.

Running Dry: Water Scarcity and Hydropower

The Southwestern U.S. has been in a “megadrought”—a prolonged drought lasting longer than two decades—since 2000. In fact, it has gotten so severe that the past 22 years mark the region’s driest spell in 1,200 years.

Consequently, many Southwestern reservoirs have below-average storage levels. When these levels fall below a certain threshold, hydropower plants can no longer generate power.

In particular, storage levels are precariously low at Lake Mead (Hoover Dam) and Lake Powell (Glen Canyon Dam), which supply most of Arizona’s hydroelectricity. They are also the two largest reservoirs in the country.

Here’s a look at how filled these reservoirs are as of Dec. 4, 2022:

To put those figures into perspective, here’s an animation looking at Lake Powell’s surface area changes from 2018 to 2022:

Shrinking water levels at reservoirs threaten the reliability of hydropower and the millions of people that rely on it for electricity. As droughts become more frequent due to climate change, what does the future of hydropower look like?

Find out in Part 2 of the Hydropower Series, where we’ll dive deeper into how droughts are affecting dams and how hydropower fits into the bigger decarbonization picture.