Fossil fuels made up less than a third of the EU’s electricity mix in 2023 as renewables advanced

In 2023, renewables were the largest source of electricity in the EU, accounting for 44.7% of the bloc’s mix, according to Eurostat.

Nuclear plants comprised 22.8% of electrical output — a slight increase despite Germany’s phasing out of the technology — meaning all clean sources combined provided more than two-thirds of the EU’s power supply.

On the other hand, electricity generated from fossil fuels was down by a fifth (19.7%) compared with the previous year, driving their share of the mix down to just 32.5%.

In an earlier assessment, the European Commission found that emissions from electricity production in the EU plunged 24% year on year thanks to the growing contribution from wind and solar farms and a recovery in hydro and nuclear generation.

The transformation of the EU’s electricity mix continued into the new year, with the share of fossil fuels falling to a historic monthly low of just 23% in April 2024, according to data collated by Ember.

The EU’s rapid shift to clean electricity means it’s now nearly in line with global climate targets, a recent analysis by Climate Action Tracker found. The bloc’s emissions trajectory is now consistent with limiting global temperature rise to a little above 2°C by the end of the century.