EU: 42% of Energy Consumed in 2022 Comes from Renewable Sources

Renewable electricity generation capacity is growing in Europe. According to the European Commission, it accounted for 41.2% of the EU’s gross electricity consumption in 2022, up 3.4 percentage points from the previous year. In the same year, nuclear power covered less than 22% of consumption, while energy produced with gas was less than 20% and coal less than 17%. From 2021 to 2022, renewable energy funds in Europe increased by 5.7%.

Among renewable energy sources, wind and hydropower have the lion’s share, accounting for about 2/3 of all clean energy produced (37.5% wind and 29.9% hydro). Photovoltaics (18.2%), solid biofuels (6.9%), and other renewable sources (7.5%) account for the rest. Solar energy is the fastest growing source, with its share rising from 1% to 18.2% between 2008 and 2022.

Il paese più virtuoso è la Svezia il cui consumo di elettricità nel 2022 proveniva per l’83,3% da fonti rinnovabili (soprattutto idroelettrica ed eolica), secondo posto per la Danimarca, 77,2% (soprattutto eolico) e Austria 74,7% (soprattutto idroelettrica). Quindi troviamo Portogallo (61,0%), Croazia (55,5%), Lettonia (53,3%) e Spagna (50,9%). I paesi meno virtusi sono invece  Malta (10,1%), Ungheria (15,3%), Cechia (15,5%) e Lussemburgo (15,9%).