Renewable energy in the EU

Written by Agnieszka Widuto and Stephanie Pradier.

The ongoing energy crisis and its related challenges of energy security concerns and high energy prices have put the spotlight on the EU’s domestic production and use of energy in general and renewables in particular. The 2018 Renewable Energy Directive (RED) requires the EU to achieve a 32 % share of renewable energy sources (RES) in gross final energy consumption by 2030. The Commission has since proposed a revision of the renewables target to 40 % as part of the ‘fit for 55’ package, in the context of the new EU climate goals under the European Green Deal, and a further increase to 45 % under the REPowerEU plan to phase out Russian energy imports.The EU exceeded its 2020 target of 20 %, achieving a 22.1 % renewables share of energy consumed. However, possibly because of the economic rebound after the COVID-19 lockdowns, the percentage of renewables consumed has since dropped to 21.8 %.

Read this infographic on ‘Renewable energy in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.