The share of electricity produced from fossil fuels in the European Union (EU) fell to 33% in the first half of the year, its lowest level ever, according to a report from energy think tank Ember on Wednesday.
Between January and June, “fossil fuels generated 410 TWh (terawatt hours) in the EU, the lowest share of the ‘electric mix’ ever recorded, 33%,” Ember specifies in his report, compared to nearly 36% for all renewables. including about 27% for solar and wind energy, according to data provided by this group to the France-Presse agency (AFP).
Fossil electricity production in coal or gas plants fell 17% between January and June compared to the first half of 2022, the group said in the report.
Five EU Member States even registered a decrease of more than 30% (Portugal, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland).
“The decline of fossil fuels is a sign of the times. Coal and gas are too expensive, too risky and the EU is phasing them out,” said Matt Ewen, an analyst at Ember.
The main reason is the significant drop in demand for electricity on the continent, by households and factories, with coal and gas stations being the first to slow down, reducing their share of total production.
Electricity production from coal fell by 23%, representing less than 10% of the European ‘electric mix’ for the first time in May, while production from gas fell by 13%.
The report’s authors warn of the need to massively increase the deployment of renewable energy, in particular solar and wind energy, “to support a resilient economy across Europe” and to reverse the decline in electricity production from fossil fuels. sustainable compensation.
In terms of volume, renewable production in its current form is not sufficient to compensate for the decrease in electricity production from fossil fuels, which amounted to 86 TWh, while at the same time renewable energy sources only increased by just under 40 TWh.
Solar increased in the semester by 13% (+13 TWh) compared to the first six months of 2022, and wind increased by 4.8% (+10 TWh). Hydropower increased by 11% (+15 TWh).
The group also recalls in the report that nuclear energy production is expected to recover, after being limited in early 2023, due to a strong unavailability of France’s nuclear park, the most important in Europe.
Source: DN
