Ember

Greece was among the EU’s top five renewable energy producers in the first half of 2023, while Europe’s solar energy market has experienced a period of significant growth in recent years, a recent study from the energy think-tank Ember has shown.

A total of 17 EU member states achieved record RES energy-mix shares in the first half of 2023, according to the study. RES output in Greece and Romania represented more than 50 percent of the overall energy production levels for both countries, unprecedented for both, the study highlighted.

Also, Denmark and Portugal achieved a significant milestone, with their renewable energy output surpassing the 75 percent mark for the first time, the Ember study revealed.

In another first, wind and solar energy output exceeded 30 percent of the EU’s overall energy production in May and June, according to the study.

As for newly installed RES capacity during the first half of 2023, compared to the equivalent period a year earlier, the Ember study showed an acceleration in RES penetration, particularly notable in the PV sector.

Following 2022’s record performance for PV installations in the EU, which totaled 33 GW, the momentum continued through the first half of 2023. Germany was the EU’s best performer, installing 6.5 GW in PV capacity during the first six months this year, a 10 percent increase. Poland followed with 2 GW, a 17 percent increase, and Belgium ranked third with 1.2 GW, a 19 percent increase.

Greenhouse gas emissions rose by 6 percent in the EU’s ETS in 2022, compared to 2021, but remained lower than levels recorded in pre-pandemic 20219, a new study by energy thinktank Ember has shown.

Though coal-related emissions are on a downward trajectory, coal was responsible for over 60 percent of emissions in EU electricity generation last year, according to the study.

The EU’s ten biggest polluters are coal-fired power plants – most of these are located in Poland and Germany – and were responsible for 25 percent of the energy sector’s emissions in 2022, according to the Ember study.

Greece recorded a marginal 0.1 percent increase in overall greenhouse gas emissions, while the country’s lignite-fired power plant emissions increased by 1.1 percent in 2022.

Greece was ranked low in terms of green energy’s share of the energy mix, which reached 43 percent in 2022. Lignite-fired electricity production’s share of the energy mix reached 10.4 percent in Greece last year, the study showed.

Over the past six years, three energy companies have ranked as the EU’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, these being Germany’s RWE, Poland’s PGE and the Czech Republic’s EPH, the study showed.

RWE topped this list in 2022 with 75 Mt CO2e, a 3 percent increase compared to 2021. Greek power utility PPC emitted 15.9 Mt CO2 in 2022.

Greece among EU’s top 5 RES producers in first half of 2023

Coal-fired power plants rank as EU’s biggest polluters