2024 at a glance

In 2024, the EU power sector saw fossil fuel generation fall to its lowest level in over forty years, reaching 793 TWh. This decline was driven primarily by record solar growth, which saw generation increase by 22% to 304 TWh, overtaking coal for the first time. Renewables accounted for 47% of EU power generation, while clean sources reached a record 71% of the mix. Despite a small 1% increase in total EU power demand and increased exports to the UK and Ukraine, coal and gas generation fell by 16% and 6% respectively, leading to a 9% drop in power sector emissions to an estimated 585 million tonnes of CO2.

• Renewable energy reached a record share of nearly half (47%) of EU power generation in 2024, with clean sources overall reaching 71%. Solar was the fastest growing source, increasing generation by 22% (+54 TWh) to 304 TWh, which allowed it to overtake coal (269 TWh) for the first time.
• Fossil fuel generation in the EU fell by 75 TWh (-9%) in 2024 to 793 TWh, the lowest level in more than forty years. Coal generation dropped to 9.8% of EU power, while gas generation declined for the fifth consecutive year to 16% of the mix.
• EU power sector emissions decreased by 9% to an estimated 585 million tonnes of CO2 in 2024, which is less than half of the 2007 peak.
• After two years of sharp decline, EU power demand increased by 31 TWh (+1%) in 2024, a trend seen in 22 of 27 Member States. However, total demand remains 5% lower than 2019 levels, and Germany's demand remained almost the same as 2023.
• Nuclear and hydropower generation rebounded from 2022 lows, increasing by 29 TWh (+5%) and 32 TWh (+10%) respectively. Nuclear growth was largely due to fewer outages in France, while hydro benefited from above average rainfall in most of Europe.

APA

Ember (2025). 2024 at a glance. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-at-a-glance/

Chicago

Ember. 2024 at a glance. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-at-a-glance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=2024 at a glance |date=23 January 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-at-a-glance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember20252024, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{2024 at a glance}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-at-a-glance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }