Rooftop solar panels in Beeskow, Germany. Pexels
Last year, for the first time, wind and solar supplied more power than fossil fuels to the E.U., according to a new analysis.
The shift is largely due to the rapid expansion of solar energy, which is growing faster than any other source of electricity. Together, wind and solar generated 30 percent of E.U. power last year, while fossil fuels provided 29 percent, according to the analysis from Ember, a think tank based in London. Including hydro, renewables provided nearly half of all E.U. power in 2025.
E.U. power generation. EMBER / ADAPTED BY YALE ENVIRONMENT 360
The analysis finds that solar is making gains in every E.U. country, while coal is broadly in retreat. Last year, solar alone supplied more than 20 percent of power in Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, in 19 European countries, coal accounted for less than 5 percent of power. In 2025, both Ireland and Finland joined the ranks of European countries that have shuttered their last remaining coal plants.
Warming, however, continues to challenge the shift to clean energy as drought saps hydropower. Last year, hydro output dropped slightly in the E.U., and natural gas power rose to compensate.
“The next priority for the E.U. should be to put a serious dent in reliance on expensive, imported gas,” said Ember analyst Beatrice Petrovich. “Gas not only makes the E.U. more vulnerable to energy blackmail, it’s also driving up prices.”
In parts of Europe, there are signs that increasingly cheap batteries are beginning to displace natural gas in the early evening, when power demand is high, but solar output is waning. Said Petrovich, “As this trend accelerates it could limit how much gas is needed in evening hours, therefore stabilizing prices.”
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