From October to March, renewables covered 40% of energy production compared to 37% from fossil fuels. It is the first time this has happened in Europe.
A new analysis by energy think tank Ember reveals that renewables generated more electricity than fossil fuels during the winter, for the first time in Europe. All of this happened despite the energy crisis that defined the 2022–2023 winter: demand for energy produced from fossil fuels fell by 12 per cent compared to the previous winter. Meanwhile, renewables produced 40 per cent of the European Union's electricity between October 2022 and March 2023, against fossil fuels stalled at 37 per cent.
And with fossil fuel production in decline, emissions from the EU's energy sector during the winter were the lowest ever recorded.
As Ember highlights, coal and gas production fell compared to the previous winter. Coal-based energy decreased by 11 per cent (-27 TWh) and gas-based energy by 13 per cent (-38 TWh). Nuclear energy also fell, by 47 TWh, mainly due to offline plants in France. As for coal and gas, the negative figure is the result of a 7 per cent drop in total electricity demand across the European Union (-94 TWh), driven in part by high fossil fuel prices.
Poland and Germany, the two largest coal-based energy producers in Europe, together accounted for 70 per cent of the reduction in energy produced from this type of fuel. In doing so, the fossil fuel most harmful to the climate reached a new low in Poland's electricity mix, falling below two-thirds of energy generation for the first time.
Italy and Spain accounted for roughly two-thirds of the reduction in gas production in the EU compared to the previous winter. This occurred despite production being supported through subsidies introduced to reduce its costs.
However, Italy, together with Finland and Hungary, bucks the trend on coal: these three countries, unlike all the others, actually increased their coal production. Even so, the widespread return to coal that was so widely heralded during the energy crisis triggered by the war never came to pass. This is also because the power stations reactivated out of fear of running short of energy were used at an average of 27 per cent of their capacity.
Widespread demand cuts allowed the European Union to save electricity worth 12 billion euros over the winter. Overall, all European countries – with the exception of Ireland – managed to reduce their energy consumption by 5 per cent during peak hours, while only Romania, Slovakia and Greece met the voluntary 10 per cent reduction target set by EU emergency legislation between November and March.
Ember notes that these demand reductions can be partly attributed to above-average winter temperatures across Europe, which reduced demand for electric heating. But the same think tank also points out that government energy-saving measures and the actions of citizens played a fundamental role.
"Europe had to face a winter of crisis, with rising energy costs and supply problems triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine," said Chris Rosslowe, an analyst at Ember. "Europe got through those difficult months, but it cannot rely on demand cuts in times of emergency and mild weather for the years ahead." The only alternative is therefore to abandon fossil fuels as soon as possible and invest massively in energy from renewable sources.