Electricity Source Trends

In 2022, the EU electricity mix was led by nuclear (22%), gas (20%), coal (16%), and wind (15%), with solar accounting for 7.3%. While solar and wind continued their long-term growth trends, nuclear and hydro experienced significant declines due to plant closures and drought. Coal saw a temporary increase to offset these losses, while gas remained the only fossil fuel to show growth over the last two decades.

• Solar and wind power continued to grow in 2022, with solar generation increasing by 24% to 203 TWh (7.3% of the mix) and wind generation rising by 8.6% to 420 TWh (15% of the mix). Germany was the largest generator for both sources, producing 59 TWh of solar and 126 TWh of wind electricity.
• Nuclear and hydro power suffered major declines in 2022. Nuclear generation fell by 16% (119 TWh) to 613 TWh, the largest year-on-year decline on record, driven by plant closures in Germany and heatwave-related outages in France. Hydro generation fell by 19% (66 TWh) to 283 TWh, reaching its lowest level since at least 2000 due to a drought-stricken summer.
• Coal generation increased by 6.7% (28 TWh) to 447 TWh in 2022, rising to a 16% share of the mix. This increase was described as largely temporary, serving to meet the reduction in nuclear and hydro generation, and was largely reversed by the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Gas power accounted for 20% of EU electricity production in 2022 (557 TWh), showing a slight increase of 0.8%. Over the last two decades, gas is the only fossil fuel to have seen growth, increasing from a 13% share in 2000 to 20% in 2022.
• Bioenergy produced 167 TWh (6% of the mix) in 2022, marking a 1.6% decline. This represents the first decrease in EU bioenergy electricity generation since 1996.

APA

Ember (2023). Electricity Source Trends. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/electricity-source-trends-eer23/

Chicago

Ember. Electricity Source Trends. 2023. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/electricity-source-trends-eer23/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Electricity Source Trends |date=31 January 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/electricity-source-trends-eer23/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2023electricity, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Electricity Source Trends}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/electricity-source-trends-eer23/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }