The sustainability of the European electricity market is going well. Last year, solar panels supplied more power than coal-fired power stations in the European Union for the first time, and gas declined for the fifth year in a row.
Solar power grew strongly, by 21.7 percent to 304 TWh. On the other hand, the share of fossil electricity fell from 39 to 29 percent in five years. However, nuclear energy remains the most essential power source for the EU, providing almost a quarter of all electricity (649 TWh).
Think tank Ember
The figures come from the European think tank Ember, which continuously monitors the use of polluting fuels, such as coal and gas, to compare it with the growth of wind and solar energy and the contributions of other CO2-free power sources, such as hydropower and nuclear power stations.
Thanks to all these developments, we are succeeding in reducing CO2 emissions. CO2 from power production fell by almost 9 percent last year to 585 million tons, less than half of the emissions in peak year 2007.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands is one of the world leaders in solar power. Unfortunately, the country is still fourth on the list for electricity from coal. Germany and Poland are the leaders in this area, although the share of coal electricity is declining in all EU countries.
Gas is also rapidly becoming less popular in the Netherlands. The average household consumption has decreased by 25 percent in four years.
Record global use of coal
However, on a global level, the picture looks very different. Although coal consumption to generate electricity has fallen sharply in Europe and the United States, this is being offset by increasing demand in India and China.
In 2024, 6 percent more polluting coal was burned in India, while this fell by 12 and 5 percent in Europe and the US, respectively. Global coal demand is set to plateau through 2027.
Growing power consumption
Researchers say that coal demand will remain at or even exceed its current high level in the coming years. Last year’s coal demand was about 9 percent higher than forecast a few years ago. Electricity use is proliferating in many countries. Electricity is increasingly used for applications such as electric cars, heating homes, and power-intensive data centers.
The transition of the EU electricity sector maintained momentum in 2024 despite challenging political and economic conditions. Significant progress has been made over the last EU political cycle, but delivery needs to be accelerated.
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