“Green reversal”: the sun and wind already provide Europeans with a third of electricity

27 January 08:49

In 2024, solar energy in the European Union surpassed coal for the first time in terms of electricity generation. This was reported by the European think tank Ember, which analyzed data on electricity production and demand for 2024 in all EU countries, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

As noted in the document prepared by the center, the European Green Deal has ensured a deep and rapid transformation of the EU energy sector.

For the first time, the EU received more energy from the sun than from coal

Thanks to the growth of wind and solar energy, the share of renewable energy sources increased from 34% in 2019 to 47% in 2024, while the share of fossil fuels fell from 39% to a historic low of 29%. In 2024, solar energy remained the fastest growing energy source in the EU, surpassing coal for the first time.

The EU’s energy mix in 2024 was as follows: solar and wind met 29% of the EU’s electricity demand, nuclear power accounted for 23.7% of total electricity production, gas provided 15.7%, hydropower 13.2%, and coal 9.8%.

Europe’s dependence on gas is steadily decreasing

Electricity production from gas has been declining for the fifth consecutive year and, combined with declining coal production, this has led to a reduction in total energy sector emissions in 2024 to a level that is 50 percent below the 2007 peak. Without wind and solar power, EU gas consumption for electricity generation would have been 11 percent higher in 2024.

Over the five years of the European Green Deal, experts conclude that the surge in wind and solar generation has been the main reason for the decline in fossil fuel production.

The sun and wind have saved the EU tens of billions of euros

The structural growth of wind and solar energy has also reduced the EU’s expenditures on fossil fuel imports and the bloc’s vulnerability to imported gas. Without the wind and solar capacity added since 2019, the EU would have imported 92 billion cubic meters more fossil gas and 55 million tons more coal, worth €59 billion. In other words, the use of wind and solar energy helped to avoid imports of fossil fuels worth 59 billion euros.

Just one example of a “green turnaround”

In Germany, near Leipzig, the largest solar power plant in Europe, Witznitz, was launched in the middle of last year. It was built on the territory of a former lignite quarry. According to DW, the Witznitz energy park consists of 1 million 100 thousand photovoltaic panels. They are located on a territory of 500 hectares, which is approximately equal to the area of 700 football fields.

The project was implemented entirely with private money, namely, the funds of the insurance concern Signal Iduna, which sees a large solar power plant as a source of stable income.

Another interesting detail. Almost all of the capacity of the Witznitz energy park has been contracted for 15 years by Shell, which will resell about half of the energy it produces to Microsoft. Both the British oil and gas company and the American IT giant need large amounts of green electricity to meet their own ambitious goals of decarbonizing their businesses.

Offshore wind energy takes a hit from Trump

As soon as he became president, Donald Trump suspended support for new offshore wind projects in the United States. And this was felt by European wind energy companies, whose shares fell.

Offshore wind energy, a renewable energy sector that uses offshore wind energy, is very much disliked by the new American president. In early January, he even criticized the British government’s energy policy, demanding that the country “open up” the outdated North Sea oil and gas basin and get rid of offshore wind farms.

And now he has moved from words to deeds. Trump has suspended new federal leasing of offshore wind farms pending an environmental and economic review, claiming that the windmills are “ugly, expensive, and harmful to wildlife.”

As a result, European energy companies are already planning to curtail their offshore wind projects in the United States.

Василевич Сергій
Editor