The share of renewable energy sources in the gross final energy consumption reached 23% in 2022, an increase from 21.9% in 2021, according to the Eurostat data.
The EU member states have a long way to go to achieve the bloc’s 2030 RES target, so they need to intensify their efforts, the statistics agency added. The revised Renewable Energy Directive has elevated the EU’s 2030 renewable energy target from 32% to 42.5% with an ambition of 45%.
The country with the highest overall renewable energy share in 2022, 66%, is Sweden. Its renewable energy was derived mainly from hydro, wind, solid and liquid biofuels, as well as heat pumps. It is followed by Finland with a 47.9% share, Latvia with 43.3%, Denmark with 41.6% and Estonia with 38.5%.
At the opposite end of the chart are Ireland, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg with shares of about 13-14%.
In 2022, renewable energy sources accounted for 41.2% of the EU’s gross electricity consumption, increasing from 37.5% in 2021. A total of 37.5% of the renewable electricity was generated from hydro, 29.9% from wind, 18.2% from solar, 6.9% from solid biofuels and 7.5% from other renewable sources.
The share of renewable energy in EU transport was 9.6% in 2022, an increase from 9.1% in 2021.