In 2022, electricity consumption in the EU originated 41% from renewable energy sources, according to Eurostat data released yesterday.
A year earlier, in 2021, electricity consumption from renewable sources stood at 37.8%. Overall, renewable energy sources increased by 5.7% from 2021 to 2022.
Electricity from renewable energy sources dominates in Sweden, where the percentage reached 83.3% in 2022 (mainly hydropower and wind). Denmark follows (77.2%, mainly wind), and then Austria (74.7%, mainly hydropower). Percentages above 50% were also recorded in Portugal (61%), Croatia (55.5%), Latvia (53.3%), and Spain (50.9%).
In Greece, the percentage of renewable sources in electricity consumption in 2022 exceeded the European average (23%), reaching approximately 43%.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest percentages of electricity from renewable sources were reported in Malta (10.1%), Hungary (15.3%), Czech Republic (15.5%), and Luxembourg (15.9%).
In Cyprus, electricity production from renewable sources is on the rise and in 2022 ranged at about 18%.
However, limited capacity in the transmission and distribution network restrains prospects for a significant increase in the percentage in the coming years and places hopes on the fastest possible installation of electricity storage systems.
Wind and hydropower accounted for over two-thirds of the total electricity generated from renewable sources (37.5% and 29.9%, respectively).
The remaining one-third of electricity came from solar energy (18.2%), solid biofuels (6.9%), and other renewable sources (7.5%). Solar energy is the fastest-growing source: in 2008, it represented only 1% of the electricity consumed in the EU.