Renewable energy progress in the European Union (EU) is driven by the European Commission's 2023 revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, which raises the EU's binding renewable energy target for 2030 to at least 42.5%, up from the previous target of 32%. Effective since November 20, 2023, across all EU countries, this directive aligns with broader climate objectives, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Additionally, the Energy 2020 strategy exceeded its goals, with the EU achieving a 22.1% share of renewable energy in 2020, surpassing the 20% target.
Renewable energy in Spain, comprising bioenergy, wind, solar, and hydro sources, accounted for 15.0% of the Total Energy Supply (TES) in 2019. Oil was the largest contributor at 42.4% of the TES, followed by gas, which made up 25.4%.
Solar power consists of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal energy in the European Union (EU).
Solar power in Romania had an installed capacity of 1,374 megawatt (MW) as of the end of 2017. The country had in 2007 an installed capacity of 0.30 MW, which increased to 3.5 MW by the end of 2011, and to 6.5 MW by the end of 2012. However, the record year of 2013 was an exception, and new installation fell back from 1,100 MW to a moderate level of 69 MW in 2014.
Energy in Belgium describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Belgium.
Solar power in Greece has been driven by a combination of government incentives and equipment cost reductions. The installation boom started in the late 2000s with feed-in tariffs has evolved into a market featuring auctions, power purchase agreements, and self-generation. The country's relatively high level of solar insolation is an advantage boosting the effectiveness of solar panels; within Europe, Greece receives 50% more solar irradiation than Germany.
Energy in Malta describes energy production, consumption and import in Malta. Malta has no domestic resource of fossil fuels and no gas distribution network, and relies overwhelmingly on imports of fossil fuels and electricity to cover its energy needs. Since 2015, the Malta–Sicily interconnector allows Malta to be connected to the European power grid and import a significant share of its electricity.
The Polish energy sector is the fifth largest in Europe. In 2023, the country consumed 167.52 TWh of electricity, a 3.44% year–on–year decrease from 2022. Out of this, 76.61 TWh came from hard coal, 34.57 TWh from lignite, 22 TWh from wind energy, and 13.65 TWh from gas, with the remainder coming from other sources, such as solar, biomass, and hydropower.
The Poland National Renewable Energy Action Plan is the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Poland. The plan was commissioned by the Directive 2009/28/EC which required Member States of the European Union to notify the European Commission with a road map. The report describes how Poland planned to achieve its legally binding target of a 15% share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy by 2020.
Electricity in Cyprus is managed by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. Power is primarily generated at three fuel oil-burning stations but the use of distributed renewable energy is expanding.
Renewable energy has developed rapidly in Italy over the past decade and provided the country a means of diversifying from its historical dependency on imported fuels. Solar power accounted for around 8% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world that year. Rapid growth in the deployment of solar, wind and bio energy in recent years lead to Italy producing over 40% of its electricity from renewable sources in 2014.
Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags 21 of the 26 other member states of the European Union in the consumption of energy from renewable sources. In 2022, the Netherlands consumed just 15% of its total energy from renewables. According to statistics published by Eurostat, it was the last among the EU countries in the shift away from global warming-inducing energy sources. The leading renewable sources in the country are biomass, wind, solar and both geothermal and aerothermal power. In 2018 decisions were made to replace natural gas as the main energy source in the Netherlands with increased electrification being a major part of this process.
Renewable energy in the Czech Republic describes the renewable energy related development in the Energy in the Czech Republic.
As of the end of 2022, solar power in Austria amounted to nearly 3.8 gigawatt (GW) of cumulative photovoltaic (PV) capacity, with the energy source producing 4.2% of the nation's electricity.
Solar power in France including overseas territories reached an installed capacity figure of 11.2 GW in 2020, and rose further to 17.1 GW at the end of 2022. Government plans announced in 2022 foresee solar PV capacity in France rising to 100 GW by 2050.
Solar power in Belgium reached an installed capacity of 9.9 GW at the end of 2023, an increase of 1.8 GW from 2022.
Solar power in Cyprus benefits from over 3,300 hours of sunlight annually, giving it the highest potential in the European Union (EU).
Under its commitment to the EU renewable energy directive of 2009, France has a target of producing 23% of its total energy needs from renewable energy by 2020. This figure breaks down to renewable energy providing 33% of energy used in the heating and cooling sector, 27% of the electricity sector and 10.5% in the transport sector. By the end of 2014, 14.3% of France's total energy requirements came from renewable energy, a rise from 9.6% in 2005.
Solar energy in Poland includes the production of solar thermal energy and solar photovoltaics. By the end of 2021, there were around 3,000,000 square metres (32,000,000 sq ft) of installed solar thermal collectors which in Poland are primarily used for heating up household water.
Renewable energy in Greece accounted for 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in 2021. By 2030, renewables are expected to have a capacity of 28GW, and exceed 61 percent of Greece's electricity consumption. This is a significant increase from 8% of the country's total energy consumption in 2008. By 2022, Greece occasionally reached 100% renewables for a few hours. The target for 2050 is a capacity of 65GW.
