North Korea
PRKHydro overtook coal on North Korea's grid in 2020.
Today hydro supplies 63% and coal 34%.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 6 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
North Korea generates almost exactly what it uses, with next to nothing crossing its borders.
What this means
Electricity can be sold across a border like anything else, through high-voltage lines connecting one country's grid to the next. Buying it in means leaning on a neighbour to keep the lights on. Selling it means generating more than the country needs.
Also true of North Korea
North Korea's electricity is cleaner than the world average.
341 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 26% below.
North Korea has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 46% to 63% in 5 years.
North Korea’s neighbours
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for North Korea. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.