The latest Ember report – authored by Dr Chris Rosslowe — has details about electricity generation in the European Union in 2024.
Wind (17 percent) has generated more electricity than gas (16 percent) for the second year in a row.
Solar has generated 11 percent of EU electricity, overtaking coal, in 2024. Coal-powered electricity fell below 10 percent for the first time, according to the European Electricity Review published by Ember.
EU gas generation declined for the fifth year in a row and total fossil generation fell to a historic low.
“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Dr Chris Rosslowe, senior analyst and lead author of the report. “At the start of the European Green Deal in 2019, few thought the EU’s energy transition could be where it is today; wind and solar are pushing coal to the margins and forcing gas into structural decline.”
The EU power sector is undergoing a transformation, spurred on by the European Green Deal. Solar generation (11 percent) overtook coal (10 percent) for the first time in 2024, as
Strong solar growth, combined with a recovery of hydropower, pushed the share of renewables to nearly half of EU power generation (47 percent).
Fossil fuels generated 29 percent of the EU’s electricity in 2024. In 2019, before the Green Deal, fossil fuels provided 39 percent of EU electricity while renewables provided 34 percent.
The surge in wind and solar generation has reduced the EU’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and its exposure to volatile prices since the energy crisis. Ember’s analysis found that without new wind and solar capacity added over the last five years, the EU would have imported an additional 92 billion cubic metres of fossil gas and 55 million tonnes of coal, costing €59 billion.
Solar is growing in every EU country and more than half now have either no coal power or a share below 5 percent in their power mix.
Coal has fallen from being the EU’s third largest power source in 2019 to the sixth largest in 2024, bringing the end into sight for the dirtiest fossil fuel. EU gas generation also declined for the fifth year in a row (-6 percent), despite a very small rebound in power demand (+1 percent).
“We need more flexibility to kick-in, making sure the energy system is adapting to new realities: more storage and more smart electrification in heating, transport and industries,” Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said.