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Austria tops the EU for renewable electricity use, with the highest share of power coming from green sources.
According to Eurostat, the country placed first with nearly a 90% green electricity use rate, boosted by its 16 hydroelectric power plants.
Sweden comes a close second at 88%, powered mainly by wind and water, while another Nordic country, Denmark, follows third with 80%, thanks to its extensive onshore and offshore wind farm network.
Rates significantly over 50% were also registered in Portugal (66%), Spain (60%) and Croatia (58%), while Italy and France placed in the bottom half, 18th and 21st respectively in the EU.
The lowest proportions of green electricity use were found in Malta (11%), the Czech Republic (18%), Luxembourg (20.5%), Hungary and Cyprus (24%).
These figures cover all electricity coming from renewable sources, including that imported from abroad.
Green electricity use across the European Union has surged over the past two decades.
In 2004, it accounted for just 16% of total electricity consumption. Some 10 years later, that figure climbed to nearly 29%, and today it stands at 47.5%.
Will solar overtake hydro as the main green electricity source?
Wind energy currently accounts for the largest share of renewable sources used to produce electricity, with 38% of the total, followed by hydro at 26%.
The fastest growing one, however, is solar, which went from just 1% in 2008 to over 23% in 2024, with 304 TWh.
Bruegel’s energy expert Ben McWilliams told Europe in Motion that “it is almost certain that solar will overtake hydro in the next few years”.
“Developers continue to build solar plants at a record pace, whilst hydro deployment does not increase,” he said, adding that the more solar Europe can install, the better for energy security.
“Every new solar panel reduces oil, gas and coal dependency, and these dependencies are the true threats to European energy security,” McWilliams said.
EU’s solar reliance on China not a long-term issue, say experts
Although the vast majority of solar panels installed in the EU are made in China, McWilliams ruled out the idea that it makes Europe more fragile amid geopolitical tensions.
“Solar panels are a stock not flow; once the EU has installed a panel from China, it is there forever,” he said. ” If — for whatever reasons — solar panel imports from China stopped, it would just slow the build-out of new solar and supply would grow elsewhere (including domestically) over a two-three year period.”
According to Solar Power Europe, there are currently 166 companies in the EU active in the photovoltaic, or light energy, chain.
The vast majority of them are in Germany, although the most solar energy capacity per capita is produced in the Netherlands, with around 1,044 W yearly.