EU fossil electricity production hits record low: report - EURACTIV

EU fossil electricity production hits record low: report - EURACTIV.com
EURACTIV.com with AFP and Reuters Est. 3min 30-08-2023 (updated: 30-08-2023 ) Content-Type: News Service News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. The decline in coal and gas power generation was driven by a drop in electricity consumption across the bloc of 4.6%, resulting from emergency measures implemented last year to combat rising prices. Industrial demand, notably in Germany, had also declined over the period, the report said. [kamilpetran / Shutterstock] EURACTIV is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Fossil fuels produced just 33% of the EU’s power in the first half of this year, the lowest share on record based on data going back to 1990, researchers said on Wednesday (30 August). The decline in coal and gas power generation was driven by a drop in electricity consumption across the bloc of 4.6% amid high power prices, which surged after Russia invaded Ukraine, upending gas supplies, think tank Ember Climate reported. “The decline in fossil fuels is a sign of the times,” said Ember analyst Matt Ewen. Coal generation was down 23%, accounting for less than 10% of the EU’s total electricity production for the first time ever in May, Ember reported. While gas prices have fallen from “crisis highs” last year, they remain double the cost compared with the first half of 2021, the report said. The drop in electricity consumption resulted from emergency measures implemented by nearly all EU members between November and March to combat rising prices. Industrial demand, notably in Germany, had also declined over the period, the report said. Fossil fuels now make up the “lowest share ever of the power mix” at 33%, Ember said. The greatest declines in fossil fuel use year-over-year at more than 30% were seen in Portugal, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia and Finland. But reduced demand being the driver for the decline in fossil fuel use is not “sustainable or desirable”, Ember warned. With demand expected to rise in the future, replacing fossil fuels with alternative sources needs to happen faster, Ewen said. Renewables overtook gas in power generation for first time in 2022: study Wind and solar power generated a record 22% of Europe’s electricity in 2022, overtaking fossil gas for the first time and outpacing coal again, according to a study by energy think tank Ember. Surge in renewables, and curtailment Solar power generation was up 13% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2022, while wind was up a more modest 4.8%. Denmark and Portugal saw renewables account for more than 75% of the electricity mix while in Greece and Romania renewables for the first time exceeded 50% of the share of supply. In countries including Spain and Poland, solar power has at times been cut off to avoid overwhelming power grids or because it is cheaper to cut off solar power than switch off fossil fuel power plants. “There are hot-spots of grid congestion and renewables curtailment,” Ember analyst Chris Rosslowe said. “One really quick thing that could be done is accelerating the deployment of storage on the grid. Battery storage projects can be constructed very quickly,” he said. However the growth in clean energy was still not enough to compensate for the gap left by the fall in fossil fuels, the report found. “A massive push, especially on solar and wind, is urgently needed to underpin a resilient economy across Europe,” Ewen said. ‘End of fossil age’ has begun, analysts say 2023 will mark the beginning of the decline in fossil fuels, following the peak of global electricity emissions in 2022, according to a new report released on Wednesday (12 April) by energy think-tank Ember. [Edited by Frédéric Simon] Read more with EURACTIV Greece blaze is 'largest wildfire ever recorded in EU'A forest blaze in Greece is "the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU" and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesman said Tuesday (29 August). Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Topics Coal Electricity Energy Energy & Environment Energy transition Renewables