Wind and solar overtake gas in EU power generation in 2022

• Wind and solar produced a record 22% of EU power last year, helping Europe to prevent a go back to coal power in the middle of the 2022 energy crisis, according to a report published today by power brain trust Ember.

Wind generation increased by 8.6%, or 33 TWh, and solar by a whopping 24%, or 39 TWh, broadening their market share to greater than a fifth from 19% in 2021.

Wind and solar for the first time outstripped gas, which created 20% of EU electrical energy in 2022, a rise from 19% in the previous year.

The share of coal power in EU electrical energy broadened 1.5 percentage indicate 16%, with coal generation decreasing in the last months of 2022.

The energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine was aggravated by reduced hydro and nuclear generation in Europe. A conditioning element was a decline in electrical energy demand, down 7.9% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2022, because of mild weather condition in combination with price pressures, efficiency improvements and efforts to decrease demand.

"The shocks of 2022 just created a minor surge in coal power and a significant wave of support for renewables. Any concerns of a coal rebound are currently dead," said Ember's head of information insights, Dave Jones.

Europe's change to wind and solar is anticipated to increase in 2023. Ember projects that fossil generation can decline by 20%, or 211 TWh, in 2023, with gas generation to fall the fastest. After the 72-TWh rise in 2022, wind and solar are attended boost by 86 TWh in 2023.