Wind and solar power provided more power to European Union countries than natural gas for the first time in 2022, a year of energy turmoil precipitated by the war in Ukraine, according to a report by think tank Ember published Tuesday.
In 2022, wind and solar provided almost a quarter (22%) of all electricity consumed in the European Union, much more than coal-based electricity (16%) and even surpassing “for the first time fossil gas”. (20%)” used in the generation of electricity, according to the European Electricity Review group of energy experts.
“Europe has avoided the worst of the energy crisis,” Dave Jones, Ember’s head of data analysis, was quoted as saying in a press release. “The 2022 shocks brought only a slight increase in coal power, but a huge wave of support for renewables. Any fears of a coal rebound are over,” the analyst says.
Increase in coal-based production
This boom in renewables was driven by solar energy, whose production increased by 39 terawatt hours (TWh, +24%) compared to 2021, a record. For comparison, France’s nuclear power plants produced 279 TWh in 2022. Following the invasion of Ukraine and the gradual shutdown of Russian gas pipelines, Europe had to massively import ship-borne liquefied natural gas and restart coal-fired power plants. . But without solar and wind power it would have been necessary to use even more coal, analysts say.
In detail, coal-fired electricity production increased by 7% between 2021 and 2022 (+28 TWh), but the use of coal-fired power plants decreased in the last four months of the year. The sharp decline in European electricity demand (-7.9%) in the last quarter, compared to last year, also helped a lot to move away from coal.
For Ember, electricity from wind and solar farms has therefore proven very useful in overcoming both the gas crisis and the electricity crisis that hit Europe at the same time, due to the closure of many French nuclear reactors and a drought. which lowered the levels of the dams. “Record growth in solar and wind power has helped offset the shortfall in nuclear and hydropower,” according to the report.
Source: BFM TV
