Clean energy is shielding EU from the worst of the Middle East crisis

The EU significantly expanded its renewable energy capacity between 2022 and 2025, with solar PV reaching 406 GW and wind reaching 246 GW. This transition reduced the bloc's reliance on imported fossil fuels, saving an estimated EUR 58 billion in coal and gas import costs. While countries like Spain have successfully delinked electricity prices from gas costs, others like Italy remain highly vulnerable due to continued dependence on imported fossil fuels, particularly during the 2026 Strait of Hormuz blockade.

• Between 2022 and 2025, the EU substantially increased its renewable energy capacity, with solar PV capacity more than doubling to 406 GW and wind energy capacity rising by approximately 31% to 246 GW. Consequently, wind and solar provided 30.3% of the EU's electricity in 2025, compared to 19.1% in 2021, which reduced the shares of coal (to 9.2%) and gas (to 16.7%).
• The growth in wind and solar output from 2022 to 2025 saved the EU an estimated EUR 58 billion in additional spending on coal and gas imports for power generation. If the bloc had possessed zero wind and solar capacity, the additional fossil fuel import bill for the same period would have reached EUR 215 billion, exceeding half of the combined 2025 defence spending of EU member states (EUR 381 billion).
• Renewable energy adoption has led to a delinking of electricity prices from gas prices in certain markets, benefiting consumers. In Spain, the share of time that power prices reflected fossil generation costs dropped from 75% in the first half of 2019 to 19% by the first half of 2025, resulting in household electricity prices (EUR 0.18/kWh) that were 13.1% lower than the EU average.
• Despite overall progress, some EU nations remain highly exposed to external shocks. Italy and Malta are the only two EU countries where over 50% of electricity generation is derived from imported fossil fuels. During the March 2026 Strait of Hormuz blockade, Italy experienced the highest average hourly spot prices for electricity in the EU at EUR 142.08 / MWh.

APA

Hedley, N. (2026). Clean energy is shielding EU from the worst of the Middle East crisis. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/clean-energy-is-shielding-eu-from-the-worst-of-the-middle-east-crisis/

Chicago

Hedley, Nick. Clean energy is shielding EU from the worst of the Middle East crisis. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2026. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/clean-energy-is-shielding-eu-from-the-worst-of-the-middle-east-crisis/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hedley |first1=Nick |title=Clean energy is shielding EU from the worst of the Middle East crisis |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=18 March 2026 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/clean-energy-is-shielding-eu-from-the-worst-of-the-middle-east-crisis/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hedley2026clean, author = {Hedley, Nick}, title = {{Clean energy is shielding EU from the worst of the Middle East crisis}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/clean-energy-is-shielding-eu-from-the-worst-of-the-middle-east-crisis/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }