Filenews 20 January 2023
The share of renewables in gross final energy consumption in the EU reached 21.8% in 2021, recording a small decrease of 0.3 percentage points (the first recorded to date) according to data released by Eurostat.
For Cyprus, this figure stood at 18.4% in 2021, below the Member State average, although the rate has been steadily increasing since 2004 and the country's accession to the EU. Compared to 2020, the percentage increased by 1.5 percentage points (from 16.9%), while in 2019 the percentage was at 13.8%.
As noted, the EU has set a target of reaching 32% by 2030 with a relevant directive. With its proposal in 2021, the Commission promoted the change of the target to 40%, and in 2022 through the REPowerEU plan it proposed a new increase to 45%.
As Eurostat explains in its communication, the small decrease recorded in 2021 can be explained by the lifting of measures to contain COVID-19, which resulted in an increase in energy consumption and a consequent decrease in the share of renewables. In absolute numbers, it is noted, in 2021 there was an increase in the production of energy from renewable sources compared to 2020.
The changes may also be due to a change in the methodology of data calculation, due to a change in the legal basis governing the sector from a Directive of 2009 to a Directive of 2018, it is added.
First is Sweden, 15 Member States below average
Among the Member States, Sweden remains the country with the highest share of consumption of energy from renewable sources (62.6%), relying mainly on biomass energy production, hydropower, wind energy, heat pumps and liquid biofuels.
They were followed in 2021 by Finland (43.1%) and Latvia (42.1%), mainly using biomass and hydropower, Estonia (37.6%, mainly biomass and wind), Austria (36.4%, mainly hydropower and biomass) and Denmark (34.7%, mainly biomass and wind).
A total of 15 of the 27 Member States, i.e. more than half, including Cyprus, were below the EU average in 2021. The other Member States below the average were Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Spain.
The lowest shares of renewable energy consumption were recorded in Luxembourg (11.7%), Malta (12.2%), the Netherlands (12.3%), Ireland (12.5%) and Belgium (13.0%).
