Renewable energies will produce half of the EU’s electricity in the first six months of 2024

According to the European Commission, renewable energies have broken records for electricity generation in the European Union this year.

Newly released data shows that in the first six months of 2024, half of the bloc’s electricity came from renewable sources, outperforming fossil fuels.

The European Commission’s “State of the Energy Union” is an annual inventory of the bloc’s progress towards its energy and climate goals.

Wind energy has now for the first time overtaken gas as the EU’s second largest source of electricity after nuclear, the report said. The European Union also set another record by installing 56 GW of new solar power in 2023, breaking the previous record of 40 GW from 2022.

“After two record years for renewable energy installations, in the first half of 2024 wind and solar will reach their all-time highs, overtaking fossil fuels in our electricity mix for the first time,” Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told reporters when announcing the news. they took Wednesday

Demand for electricity has also decreased, but energy efficiency efforts must be increased to meet the 11.7 percent reduction by 2030 for the energy consumption target.

“Today’s report is really testament to the extensive review of EU energy policy that we have undertaken over the past five years,” said Simson.

The EU is now well equipped to meet its climate neutrality goal while ensuring that industry remains competitive.

How is the EU improving energy security and stabilizing bills?

Energy security and price stability is also one of the main axes of this year’s report.

The share of Russian gas in EU imports fell from 45% in 2021 to 18% by June this year. This was partly due to increased imports from countries such as Norway and the United States, but lower demand for gas also played a role.

Between August 2022 and May 2024, demand fell by 18 percent, or 138 billion cubic meters, exceeding the voluntary target of 15 percent.

The State of the Energy Union also found that prices are more stable and will remain significantly lower than they were at the height of the energy crisis in 2022.

Simson said it showed the EU was “no longer in the shadow of Putin’s pipelines”.

This report shows the progress we have made under this directive towards a secure, competitive and affordable energy sector in the EU.”

The commission says there are still “new and emerging challenges” that need to be addressed. These include the current ambition gap in renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, increasing energy poverty, energy price differentials compared to other global competitors and the risk of new strategic dependencies.

It adds that solving these issues requires a decisive policy response and increased efforts at EU and member state level.

The European Commission is pushing for updated climate plans

Progress is promising, but one key element is still missing for many countries: their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). The report reminds EU member states that they need to submit these long-term climate plans as soon as possible to ensure that the 2030 climate targets are within reach.

So far, they’ve only received 10 final designs, Simson said, and many have passed the June 30 “submission deadline.” Among the EU’s top five producers, France, Italy and Germany have submitted entries, while Spain and Poland lag behind.

An assessment of the NECP drafts published last December found that while EU countries are taking steps in the right direction, their plans are still not enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

The Energy Union government says they must take the commission’s recommendations into account in their final plans.