Filenews 22 February 2024
In 2022, 41% of electricity consumption in the EU came from renewable energy sources, according to Eurostat data released yesterday. A year ago, in 2021, electricity consumption from renewable sources was at 37.8%. Overall, renewables grew by 5.7% from 2021 to 2022.
Electricity from renewable energy sources dominates in Sweden, where its share in 2022 reached 83.3% (mainly hydro and wind). They are followed by Denmark (77.2%, mainly wind) and Austria (74.7%, mainly hydro). Rates above 50% were also recorded in Portugal (61%), Croatia (55.5%), Latvia (53.3%) and Spain (50.9%). In Greece, the share of renewables in electricity consumption in 2022 exceeded the European average (23%), at around 43%.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest shares of electricity from renewable sources were reported in Malta (10.1%), Hungary (15.3%), Czechia (15.5%) and Luxembourg (15.9%).
In Cyprus, electricity production from renewable energy sources is on the rise and in 2022 stood at around 18%. However, the limited capacity in the transmission and distribution network holds back the prospects for a significant increase in the percentage in the coming years and pins hopes on the fastest possible installation of electricity storage systems.
Wind and hydropower accounted for more than two-thirds of all electricity generated from renewable sources (37.5% and 29.9%, respectively). The remaining third of electricity came from solar (18.2%), solid biofuels (6.9%) and other renewable sources (7.5%). Solar energy is the fastest growing source: in 2008 it accounted for only 1% of electricity consumed in the EU.
