The renewables revolution in Europe continues, with growth of over two percentage points compared to the previous year: in 2018, the share of electricity produced from renewable sources in the European Union reached 32.3 per cent. Coal, meanwhile, is falling, down 6 per cent in 2018 and 30 per cent compared to 2012 levels, thanks in part to the installation of new wind farms, solar plants, biomass facilities and the recovery of hydropower. The findings come from German think tank Agora Energiewende and British organisation Sandbag, through the report "The European Power Sector in 2018", which paints a clear picture of the European electricity sector: the relentless decline of coal, even though seven countries alone account for the total lignite consumption, with Germany leading the way.

Coal falls, while lignite remains stable

According to the report, coal use will continue to decline, thanks to various national plans for the phase-out of power plants that generate electricity using this fossil fuel, above all thanks to the plans of Germany and Spain. It is lignite that represents the greater problem: it fell by just 3 per cent in 2018, while Germany — which accounts for almost half of the EU's lignite generation — has only planned its phase-out for 2038, a date that many consider too far off.

"Europe is showing that replacing coal with renewables is the fastest way to cut emissions," said Dave Jones, one of the study's authors, in a statement. "In just six years, between 2012 and 2018, annual CO2 emissions in Europe from coal-fired power plants fell by 250 million tonnes, without emissions from gas-fired power generation increasing." The lignite question, however, remains unresolved, and according to the researcher "is still in its early stages."

Renewables in Italy? At 35%

In 2018 renewables also grew in our country, rising from 33 to 35 per cent in electricity generation, according to data from Terna, while in terms of the share of overall energy consumption, growth reached 18.3 per cent, "a value higher than both the 2016 figure (17.4 per cent) and — for the fourth consecutive year — the target assigned to Italy by Directive 2009/28/CE for 2020 (17.0 per cent)," writes the Gse.

Despite everything, solar in 2018 accounted for just 4 per cent of the EU's electricity mix, even though in some countries such as Italy (9 per cent), the figures recorded were considerably higher than the average. According to the Gse, this would depend "primarily on favourable climatic conditions, such as good solar irradiation, which made it possible to set an all-time record in photovoltaic output (24.4 TWh, +10.3 per cent compared to 2016), and temperatures on average lower than those of the previous year, which supported direct biomass consumption in the residential sector (6.8 Mtep), up 9.5 per cent compared to 2016."

The fact remains that in 2018, new photovoltaic installations in Europe recorded a 60 per cent increase, with nearly 10 GW of capacity, which could triple by 2022. Despite this, the EU holds a share of less than ten per cent of the global solar market, which last year totalled 109 GW. "So far the EU has missed the opportunity to benefit from very favourable module prices: solar energy is often cheaper than electricity produced by conventional power plants," said Matthias Buck, head of European energy policy at Agora Energiewende. "However, three countries — Spain, France and Italy — are targeting 45 gigawatts and more of solar."

To achieve the EU's 2030 target of covering 32 per cent of energy demand from renewable sources, the share of renewables in the electricity sector will need to increase to 57 per cent by that date. We still have 10 years to get there.