EU’s record solar summer helps avoid €29bn in gas imports

This report by Ember analyses electricity generation data for the European Union from May to August 2022, highlighting a record share of solar power and its role in reducing the need for expensive fossil gas imports during an energy crisis.

• Between May and August 2022, the European Union generated a record 12.2% of its electricity from solar power, totaling 99.4 TWh. This represents a 28% increase from the 77.7 TWh (9.4%) generated during the same period in 2021. During this window, solar's share of the power mix exceeded that of hydro (11%) and wind (11.7%), and was 4 percentage points lower than coal's 16.5% share.
• The record solar generation of 99 TWh between May and August 2022 allowed the EU to avoid importing an additional 20 bcm of fossil gas. Based on average daily gas prices for that period, this resulted in potential cost savings of €29 billion. The year-on-year growth of 22 TWh in solar power specifically contributed to savings of over €6 billion and 4 bcm of gas.
• Solar share records were broken in 18 of the 27 EU countries. The Netherlands had the highest solar share in the power mix at 23%, followed by Germany at 19% and Spain at 17%. Poland saw the largest increase in solar generation since 2018, increasing its generation 26 times, while Finland and Hungary saw 5-fold increases.
• Despite growth, Ember's analysis indicates that projected annual capacity additions for 2026 will only meet 46% of the value required under 1.5C pathways. This shortfall is attributed largely to permitting bottlenecks and countries exceeding legally binding limits for project development times.
• Fossil gas prices reached record highs during the summer of 2022. The European benchmark TTF day ahead price averaged €148/MWh from May to August, peaking at €313/MWh on 29 August. This is a significant increase from the €38/MWh average recorded during the same period in 2021.

APA

Czyżak, P., Brown, S., Dizon, R., Broadbent, H., & Fulghum, N. (2022). EU’s record solar summer helps avoid €29bn in gas imports. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Analysis-EUs-record-solar-summer-helps-avoid-E29bn-in-gas-imports.pdf

Chicago

Czyżak, Pałł, Sarah Brown, Reynaldo Dizon, Hannah Broadbent, and Nicolas Fulghum. EU’s record solar summer helps avoid €29bn in gas imports. Ember, 2022. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Analysis-EUs-record-solar-summer-helps-avoid-E29bn-in-gas-imports.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{czyak2022eus, author = {Czyżak, Pałł and Brown, Sarah and Dizon, Reynaldo and Broadbent, Hannah and Fulghum, Nicolas}, title = {{EU’s record solar summer helps avoid €29bn in gas imports}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Analysis-EUs-record-solar-summer-helps-avoid-E29bn-in-gas-imports.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }