In 2024, the EU achieved the cleanest power generation mix ever, with higher levels of renewables leading to a 59% cut in emissions compared to 1990 levels, according to Eurelectric.
2024 marked the lowest emissions from the EU power sector with a 13% drop compared with 2023.
Renewables contributed 48% of the EU power generation mix, followed by nuclear at 24% and fossil fuels at 28%, the lowest share ever.
While nuclear remained the single leading technology in producing power, wind kept its lead over natural gas from the past year.
Electricity from hydro and solar increased by more than 40 TWh year-on-year.
This corresponds to half of the annual power demand in Belgium and the whole annual demand in Denmark.
The EU closed the year with lower electricity prices on average.
In 2024, wholesale day-ahead market prices came down to €82 per megawatt hour (MWh) compared to €97/MWh in 2023.
This average was even lower, at €76/MWh, up until the last quarter of the year when a surge in gas prices, high winter demand, scarce solar and windless days brought the prices up, causing several spikes in Germany, Hungary, Romania and Sweden.
In parallel, negative prices broke a new record this year as they were registered 17% of the time in at least one bidding zone.
“Eurelectric’s data proves once again that investing in higher renewable generation is the right path for a more competitive and decarbonised economy, but it must be complemented by more firm and flexible capacity to balance their variability, limit reliance on costly fossil fuels and contain price spikes,” said Cillian O’Donoghue, policy director at Eurelectric.
“Electrification remains the low-hanging fruit to decarbonise the EU. The more you electrify your energy applications the easier you decarbonise, but demand for electricity is not where it should be today,” added O’Donoghue.
Power demand grew by less than 2% this year compared to 2023, but it remains lower than pre-crisis levels.
Some of this reduction comes from higher energy efficiency and energy savings, however, more than 50% of this decline is caused by industrial slowdown.
In Germany, industrial power consumption decreased by 13% in 2023 compared to 2021 and is expected to have sank further in 2024 since industrial production declined 4% year-on-year.