Useful links

EUROSTAT is the statistical office of the European Union, responsible for publishing high-quality Europe-wide statistics and indicators that enable comparisons between countries and regions. The specific Energy section includes information and comprehensive databases about energy sector. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/overview

United Nations Statistical Department (UNSD)’s mission in energy statistics area aims to strengthen national statistical systems to provide high quality energy statistics and balances. The UNSD collects annual and monthly energy statistics and disseminates them in the form of the publications: Statistical Yearbook, Energy Balances, Electricity Profiles and the Energy Statistics Pocketbook. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/energystats

International Energy Agency (IEA) is focused on the production timely, reliable, and accurate energy statistics with aim to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy system. Besides energy balances, the IEA publishes energy end-use and efficiency indicators, monthly statistics, oil stock, hydrogen production data and other. The main aim and purposes of this comprehensive energy statistics is to support forecasts and estimates for short-term, mid-term and long-term planning periods, energy policies development, development of new technologies and innovations and many others. (https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) promotes and prepares and develops energy statistics which is suitable for the feeding various energy planning tools (MAED, MESSSAGE, ESST, and other). IAEA develops own tool Energy Balance Studio (EBS) which aims to facilitate collection and organisation of energy data and to produce energy balance. (https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/experts-review-iaeas-analytical-tools-for-sustainable-energy-development)

EU ODYSSEE-MURE DATABASE is very specific database which encompass is developed to ensure comprehensive monitoring of energy efficiency trends and policy evaluation in EU Countries, Switzerland, and Energy Community countries. Database on energy efficiency indicators and energy consumption by end-use and related drivers covers industry, transport, households, and service sectors. (https://www.odyssee-mure.eu)

SECCA Project aims and expected outcomes

The SECCA project’s work scope covers strengthening capacities of the national governmental agencies of the Central Asian counties for management of energy data, information, modelling and standards.

The project goals and expected outcomes:

• Training and capacity building activities organised with aim to improve and harmonise national energy statistics systems with international standards and recommendations;
• Increased awareness and understanding of the importance of timely, reliable, consistent, and accurate energy statistics among various data users: policy makers, decisions makers and statisticians.
• Improved links and cooperation between energy statisticians, data provides, energy experts and other.
• Disseminated examples of good practices to faster knowledge sharing, improve data collections and compilations, setting up agreements with data users, reduce the costs and other.
• Increased awareness of national statisticians about international energy databases and benefits they provide.
• Developed national tailor-made tools, methods and methodologies that reflect real, country specific, energy sector situation.

Energy statistics-related project events:

1. Regional Workshop on Final Energy Consumption Statistics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 11-13 July 2023.

2. SECCA Energy Statistics Training for the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan, 3-7 July 2023.

3. SECCA training: Formation of the energy balance, calculation of energy efficiency indicators, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 26 June 2023.

4. SECCA training: Formation of the energy balance, calculation of energy efficiency indicators, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 16-17 May 2023.

Common reporting about energy sector

The most common reporting on energy sector includes the following statistics:

• annual statistical energy balances
• monthly energy statistics
• energy prices
• energy efficiency indicators
• other energy indicators.

Energy balances

Annual energy statistics reported in the form of an energy balance is the most complete framework for the accounting of all energy products and their flows in the economy. It allows to policy makers and other energy statistics users to access current energy situation of the country, such as the total energy supply, including production of the primary energy at national territory, imports, exports, and stock change, then energy transformation processes, such as electricity and heat generation, refining of the crude oil to produce petroleum products and other transformations. Final energy consumption covers demand in manufacturing industry, transport sector, households, services, agriculture and fishing. Beside mentioned, energy balances include non-energy consumption, losses in energy networks, energy consumption in energy industries, energy delivered in maritime and aviation transportation bunkers and other.  There are many purposes the energy balance is used:  calculation of various indicators on energy security, energy efficiency, dependency, greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion, and input for modelling and forecasting and many other purposes.

Typical segments of the energy balance are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The key segments of the energy balance.

Monthly statistics

Monthly statistics provides less comprehensive statistical coverage then annual data but for shorter time periods giving much better insights into the trends and changes in energy supply in the country. Monthly statistics includes data on production, imports, exports, and stock changes on monthly basis with 2- or 3-months delay compared to real time. Monthly statistics includes only limited information about transmission and consumption and covers oil and petroleum products, natural gas, coal and electricity.

Energy prices

Energy prices statistics is mostly published for electricity and natural gas supplied to end-consumer: households and enterprises. To ensure full transparency of energy prices and real effects, price statistics should contain a detailed set of sub-components on taxes and levies and network prices. This leads to greater transparency and promotion of fair competition and market developments.

Energy indicators

The demand for monitoring and evaluation of energy efficiency policies in the country requires more and more indicators, such as energy efficiency indicators, whose importance has significantly grown over the last years. Energy efficiency indicators can be calculated starting from the aggregated to very disaggregated level. Specificity of this statistics is the need to split final energy of each sector, as shown in energy balance, on specific end-uses, which are the basis for calculating energy efficiency indicators. For example, in households and services sector there is a need to estimate quantities of energy that is used for space heating, space cooling, water heating, lighting and appliances. The main prerequisite for calculation of energy efficiency indicators are comprehensive surveys on energy consumption needs to be initiated and periodically conducted. Besides, it should be mentioned that not all the data necessary for calculation of the end-uses could be estimated based on the statistical data collection, but with additional, auxiliary modelling needs to be developed. These models need to be carefully designed because they have multi-purpose use: for calibrating the base year, estimation of the indicators in periods between surveys, monitoring the process and supporting the comprehensive modelling tools in energy planning and future energy sector scenarios analysis.

Process of the calculation of energy efficiency indicators in households and services is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Process of the calculation of energy efficiency indicators in households and services.

Introduction to Energy statistics

Energy statistics comprises a very comprehensive statistical domain, it includes almost all business subjects and households. In many countries, during recent years, energy sector was characterised by intensive developments of new energy policies the aim of which is to secure energy supplies, sustainable energy consumption, decrease fossil fuels dependence and improvements in energy efficiency. In these processes, energy statistics is recognised as a key platform not only for policy base development, but also for monitoring the progresses towards defined targets and goals.

As energy is vital to many sectors of the economy, energy data significantly contributes to explaining the developments in other areas, such as energy prices, transport sector, energy poverty, impacts of climate change and other.

To develop timely, reliable, consistent, and accurate energy statistics, it is necessary to have available methodologies and appropriate recommendations on how to develop a system of energy statistics in a country. In its endeavours to harmonise reporting of series of energy indicators, many international organisations (EUROSTAT, International Energy Agency, United Nations Statistical Department and other) joined their forces in developing the specific methodologies for annual and monthly reporting, as well as for compiling and publication of energy data. This continuously becomes more complex and detailed, and requires high quality energy data and statistical evidence for sound decision making.

The growing demand for energy data is a big challenge for statisticians, the new profile of statisticians should include both comprehensive statistical skills and profound understanding of energy sector. The costs effectiveness of the development, production and dissemination is often highlighted as one of the main obstacles in functioning energy statistics systems. The new policies require more and more data collections and work with comprehensive energy databases that needs to be permanently maintained and processed with an adequate IT support.

Energy statistics distinguishes several kinds of reporting, out of which energy balance is the most comprehensive and detailed representation of overall energy system of a country. Other common reporting on energy statistics data includes monthly statistics, energy prices, end-use energy consumption, share of energy from renewable sources and other.