Photo voltaic Surpasses Coal For The First Time In The EU

Join every day information updates from CleanTechnica on e mail. Or observe us on Google Information!

The Ember European Electrical energy Overview for 2025 has some excellent news for renewable vitality advocates. The overview analyzes a full yr of electrical energy technology and demand information for 2024 in all 27 member international locations of the European Union in an effort to perceive the area’s progress in transitioning from fossil fuels to scrub electrical energy. The excellent news is that photo voltaic generated extra electrical energy — 11% — within the EU final yr than coal, which dropped to 10% — the primary time photo voltaic has surpassed coal because the supply of electrical energy in that area.

However wait, there’s extra excellent news. Methane technology fell for the fifth yr in a row and whole fossil gas use for electrical energy reached a historic low within the 2024 survey.  Based on Canary Media, Chris Rosslowe, senior analyst at Ember and lead creator of the report, mentioned in a press release, “Fossil fuels are shedding their grip on EU vitality. Wind and photo voltaic are pushing coal to the margins and forcing gasoline into structural decline.”

Wind technology outpaced fossil gasoline for the second yr in a row, contributing 17% of whole electrical energy in comparison with 16% from gasoline. Total, Ember discovered that renewables, a class that features hydro and bio-energy plus nuclear, supplied 47% of the electrical energy for the EU. Fossil fuels equipped simply 29%, which is a big shift from 2019 when renewables made up 34% and fossil fuels equipped 39% of the electrical energy combine.

During the last 5 years, the area’s vitality transition ​“has moved quicker than anybody anticipated,” Rosslowe added. That’s thanks in massive measure to the European Inexperienced Deal, a bundle of insurance policies launched in 2019 that set a purpose of attaining local weather neutrality by 2050. These insurance policies span from clear vitality to agriculture and have been boosted by a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} in funding. The transfer from gasoline was additional accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though the EU has additionally ramped up imports of liquefied pure gasoline from the US and different international locations. As photo voltaic and wind picked up, coal-fired technology fell to new lows. In 2019, coal was the EU’s third largest energy supply; in 2024, it fell to sixth. Greater than half of all EU international locations now both use no coal for electrical energy or depend on it for lower than 5% of their energy.

Robust Development In Photo voltaic Energy In 2024

The transition of the EU electrical energy sector maintained momentum in 2024, regardless of difficult political and financial situations, the Ember report said. Solar energy grew strongly and overtook coal energy for the primary time. One other yr of coal and gasoline decline — the fifth yr in a row for gasoline — reduce EU energy sector emissions to under half their 2007 peak and additional diminished reliance on imported fossil fuels. Vital progress has been made during the last EU political cycle, however supply must be accelerated. The numerous progress has introduced advantages past decreasing emissions. Structural progress in wind and solar energy has diminished the EU’s fossil import invoice and the bloc’s vulnerability to imported gasoline. Whereas the progress made within the first half of this decade is spectacular, an acceleration is required between now and 2030.

“The EU is striding nearer in the direction of a clear vitality future powered by homegrown wind and photo voltaic. This new vitality system will scale back the bloc’s vulnerability to fossil worth shocks, deal with the local weather disaster, and ship inexpensive vitality for its households and firms. Well timed coverage motion that sustains wind and photo voltaic progress, accelerates the deployment of unpolluted flexibility and promotes electrification, will assist to safe the way forward for EU competitiveness,” mentioned Dr. Beatrice Petrovich, a senior vitality analyst at Ember.

The annual report from Ember highlighted a few of the challenges the EU energy sector confronted final yr. Inflation remained above historic ranges, which created difficult situations for funding, and lots of nationwide and European elections bred issues that the transition to scrub vitality would lose assist. Quite the opposite, nevertheless, progress towards the area’s vitality targets continued unabated. In 5 years of the European Inexperienced Deal, a surge in wind and photo voltaic technology is the primary purpose for declining fossil technology. With out wind and photo voltaic capability added since 2019 due to that coverage, the EU would have imported 92 billion cubic meters extra methane and 55 million extra tons of laborious coal at a complete value of €59 billion.

To maximise future advantages, the members of the European Union should proceed to speed up wind energy deployment, which is falling wanting its most potential regardless of being absolutely value competitiveness with different sources of vitality. A number of elements recommend that wind technology is more likely to resume its rising pattern, the Ember report claims. Annual capability additions are anticipated to extend over the following 5 years, rising from an estimated 13 GW in 2024 to almost 30 GW by 2030. Moreover, offshore wind, which produces extra electrical energy per GW than onshore installations, is anticipated to make up a progressively bigger share of recent capability. As well as, photo voltaic is anticipated to develop much more shortly, with the EU projected to add 110 GW in 2025.

Shift To Renewables Is Of Important Concern

The strategic, financial, and social case for the vitality transition in Europe is clearer than ever, Ember says. Whereas the worst of the vitality disaster is likely to be over, Europe’s ongoing dependence on fossil vitality leaves it weak to world shocks in an more and more unstable world. European residents are nonetheless struggling excessive vitality costs attributable to Russian aggression in Ukraine and are more and more feeling the impacts of the local weather disaster — from document summer season heatwaves to excessive flooding. Not solely are renewables addressing these issues by decreasing emissions, they’re the most cost effective options out there and are overwhelmingly in style.

As political consideration shifts to Europe’s industrial and financial efficiency, some could argue for sustainability to be given a decrease precedence. However a report by former European Central Financial institution President Mario Draghi on the way forward for European competitiveness concluded that the very best path to sustainability is thru diminished fossil gas dependency by an industrial coverage firmly rooted within the vitality transition. The return of President Trump to the White Home and the possible US retreat from clear vitality management presents a transparent alternative for the EU to step up, Draghi defined. “On this context, it’s welcome to see continued dedication to the European Inexperienced Deal from the brand new EU Fee, as residents and companies stand to learn from a quicker transition. This report outlines what occurred in EU electrical energy in 2024, the progress made throughout 5 years of the European Inexperienced Deal and key priorities to unlock additional advances.” Ember wrote in its report.

The trajectory or renewable vitality is considerably forward of comparable traits within the US, the place photo voltaic and wind mixed overtook coal on the ability grid for the primary time in 2024. Coal has been eradicated from the ability grid in the UK, which shuttered its final coal-fired producing station in September of 2024.