Renewables provided more than half of power generation across the European Union (EU) during the first half of 2024, a new analysis has found.
Data published this morning by trade body Eurelectric shows 74 per cent of electricity generated in the EU in the first six months of this year came from low-carbon energy sources, with renewables making up just over 50 per cent and nuclear providing a further 24 per cent.
Eurelectric said power generation was decarbonising at an “unseen pace” thanks to an “unprecedented” influx of renewables on to the grid and the stabilisation of the nuclear fleet. Low carbon generation’s 74 per cent share of the power mix represents a sharp increase on the 68 per cent recorded during the first six months of last year.
Kristian Ruby, secretary general of Eurelectric, said the data provided further evidence of the rapid transformation of the EU’s power system.
“The pace of change is impressive,” he said. “These figures document that the decarbonisation efforts of electricity companies are years ahead of any other sector.”
The update also reveals electricity demand declined across Europe, falling by 2.6 per cent on levels recorded in the first half of 2022.
The analysis attributed the fall to a combination of the relocation of some energy-intensive industrial sites abroad, warmer temperatures, energy saving measures, and relatively slow economic growth across the bloc.
Ruby said policymakers needed to ramp up efforts to accelerate the roll out of electric technologies – such as heat pumps and electric vehicles (EVs) – to encourage continued investment in clean energy generation.
“Years of stagnation in electricity demand have now turned into a regular decline,” he said. “Policymakers must urgently support the uptake of electricity to provide the necessary investment signals for clean generation.”
Eurelectric, which is backed by more than 3,500 European power utilities, is calling on the new European Commission to publish an Electrification Action Plan within the first 100 days of its mandate which sets out a target for 35 per cent of final energy use across the bloc to be electrified by 2035. It has also called for the introduction of a “clear electrification indicator” to be introduced in the national energy and climate plans of EU countries, which would monitor progress.
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