Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), emphasized serious concerns regarding the concentration of clean energy supply chains at the International Energy Conference in Singapore, introducing the lack of mention of the countries involved in these chains as a worrying reality. According to him, China, as a key player in energy transmission technology, capacity, and investment, significantly dominates this field.
China's dominance in clean energy technologies
China is a leader in the production of wind and solar equipment and is also the largest battery producer in the world and a major manufacturer and seller of the largest electric vehicles. Birol stated in his speech, "The age of electricity is approaching. We will still use oil and natural gas (including LNG), but electricity demand is rising sharply." These remarks come as Southeast Asia has emerged as the primary destination for China's energy transmission technologies.
Impacts of recent wars on energy demand
According to published data, since the beginning of this year, the region has purchased over $20 billion worth of energy transmission equipment and technologies from China. Birol emphasized that this wave of purchases is likely due to the oil and gas crisis created by the recent wars between the United States and Israel with Iran. He also noted, "In my professional life, I have never seen such a dark shadow of geopolitics over the energy sector." According to Birol, the role of geopolitics will significantly increase in the future, meaning that energy security will become more important.
As a point of hope, Birol pointed to the increasing demand for alternative energies and electric vehicles, announcing a 60% increase in electric vehicle sales outside of China compared to previous forecasts. This trend has been introduced as a sign of changing energy consumption patterns globally. The head of the IEA emphasized that these changes in energy consumption could benefit developing countries.
