Februari 2023 | 232 comments (232 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Renewables top EU electricity source in 2022 (none / 0)

Wind and Solar generated record 20% of EU electricity in 2022.
More than (each of) gas, nuclear, hydro, coal.
The graph is worth a look : over twenty years, the transformation is dramatic.

Now 2022 is over, the figures are in for all the main electricity generation types. For the first time ever, wind and solar delivered more electricity in 2022 than gas, nuclear, hydro or coal. In total, that's a record one-fifth of the EU's electricity last year. We can thank the "triple crisis" of Russian gas cuts, the 500-year record drought's effect on hydro, and the unexpected French nuclear shutdowns for the renewed drive for wind and solar. Daisy Dunne at Carbon Brief presents all the numbers. A fall in demand, caused by public concern over the Russian gas cuts as well as a mild winter, made a contribution to handling the crisis too. But that doesn't detract from the success of wind and solar, and in particular record solar generation in 20 EU nations with standout figures from the Netherlands and Greece. Coal also rose to help compensate, but no higher than its 2018 figure.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Tue Feb 7th, 2023 at 01:54:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR stretch goals (none / 0)

Kronen Zeitung | Storage tanks were full of Putin's gas in December, 9 Feb Austria

The reasons for the increase in November and December are lower imports from Germany and Italy, while at the same time relatively constant gas flows from Russia. Gazprom had severely throttled the gas delivery volumes to OMV over the summer, but recently delivered more again.

illustrated

The NEOS criticize that Austria is increasingly developing into a special case in Europe. Overall, Europe has never received so little Russian gas as it has in the past few weeks, according to NEOS Lab Director Lukas Sustala. However, electricity production from renewable [fuels] in Austria is stagnating.
Austria pays more for Russian gas than before the war
Sustala refers to data from Ember, according to which Austria is one of the few EU countries that produced less electricity from renewable ["energy carriers"] in 2022 than in 2017. This is mainly due to hydropower, which in the previous year suffered from the drought.
[...]