ENERGY

A substantial decline in energy was observed in countries that followed complete or partial lockdown. Specifically, this was caused by total lockdown in India, the USA, China, and Italy, where all industries were closed during the first and second phases of lockdown. For example, electricity consumption declined to almost 30% in Italy after 40 days of lockdown. Similarly, electricity consumption declined by 15% in France, 12% in Germany, 15% in Spain, 20% in India, and 16% in the UK. Overall, electricity demand during COVID-19 was at least 10% lower in comparison to pre-COVID-19 times. 

Energy reduction is explained by lockdowns Whereas 5–50% higher energy consumption has been observed in hospitals from 216 affected nations from mid-March 2020 to mid-April 2020, energy consumption has decreased in other sectors. Indeed, a reduction of about 25% on the average in weekly energy consumption has been noticed in 30 fully locked down nations up to mid-April 2020. This energy reduction was nearly 18% in partially locked down countries. In the same vein, global energy expenses decreased by 40% compared to the previous year. This indicates a stringent reduction in energy consumption. For example, in India where lockdown was implemented quite stringently, peak power demand dropped to 134.89 gigawatts in 2020 as compared to 168.62 gigawatts in 2019, registering a drop of 20%. Electric energy demand was reduced by 30% nationwide in COVID-19 induced lockdown time as compared to the pre-COVID-19 time.