- The EU generated 12.2% of its electricity needs from solar during this summer.
- Solar power saved the EU some EUR 29 billion in fossil gas imports.
The EU generated 12.2% of its electricity needs from solar during this summer. This helped the region reduce its dependence on gas imports, saving billions of euros. This was disclosed by the energy think tank Ember.
The peak summer months from May to August led to a 99.4 TWh solar-powered generation. This figure reveals a 28% rise from the 77.7 TWh produced in the previous year when the share of solar generation was 9.4%.
Over the past four months, solar has exceeded wind in the energy share index, 11.7% and hydro at 11%. It has just a little difference with coal, which is at 16.5% of the share.
Ember projects that solar power saved the EU some EUR 29 billion in fossil gas imports, based on the daily gas prices for May to August. This is because without the solar generation this summer, the bloc would have needed to buy another 20 bcm of gas.
“As Europe is rocked by the gas crisis, solar energy brings some much-needed relief. Investments in solar capacity have paid off,” said Ember analyst Pawel Czyzak.
However, accelerated efforts are needed to achieve climate targets and ensure energy security, including reducing permitting bottlenecks and increasing funding and solar deployment rates.
“It’s clear that we need as much solar power as we can get. The EU Parliament has the perfect opportunity to give it to us by adopting the 45% renewable energy target and putting Europe on a pathway towards 600 GW of solar capacity or more by 2030,” added Czyzak.
Of the 27 EU countries, 18 set solar records: Austria (2.4%), Belgium (12.8%), Cyprus (13.3%), Czechia (5.1%), Denmark (12.9%), Estonia (13.9%), France (7.7%), Germany (19.3%), Greece (15.3%), Hungary (14.7%), Italy (15.0%), Netherlands (22.7%), Poland (8.1%), Portugal (9.3%), Romania (3.8%), Slovakia (3.4%), Slovenia (3.1%), Spain (16.7%).
Despite not having the best EU irradiation levels, the Netherlands had the highest share of solar generation, followed by Germany and Spain.
Poland recorded the most significant increase in terawatt solar generation hours since 2018, followed by Finland and Hungary.