Eurostat: solar power surpasses hard coal as primary energy source in EU in 2022
Date
8/20/2024 8:45:20 AM
(MENAFN) On Monday, Eurostat announced a significant shift in the European Union's energy landscape, revealing that solar power surpassed hard coal as a primary energy source in 2022. For the first time, solar energy outpaced hard coal in electricity generation within the EU. According to the statistics authority, solar energy contributed 210,249 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, whereas hard coal generated 205,693 GWh. This transition marks a pivotal moment in the EU's efforts to diversify its energy sources and increase reliance on renewable energy.
The report also highlighted the role of brown coal, which is used by nine EU member countries and generated 241,572 GWh of electricity in the same period. Brown coal, characterized by its lower energy content compared to hard coal, remains a significant component of electricity generation in these countries. This continued use underscores the ongoing reliance on various forms of coal within the EU's energy mix, despite the growth in renewable energy sources.
In addition to these changes, the EU's import dependency for hard coal reached a record high of 74.4 percent in 2022, up from approximately 60 percent in 2021. This increase in dependency is attributed to countries building up their stocks of hard coal amidst fluctuating energy markets. The report also noted that during this period, Russia was the largest supplier of hard coal to the EU, accounting for 24 percent of imports, although this was a significant decrease from 45 percent in 2021. The United States and Australia followed as major suppliers, providing 18 percent and 17 percent of the EU's hard coal imports, respectively.
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