Barcelona, Spain, Catalonia, Carrer de Tarragona Eixample, Plaza de toros de las Arenas, Arenas de Barcelona, former bullfighting ring now shopping mall with solar panels on rooftop. Photo Credit: Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images
Environment EuropeSolar Power Shines Bright Against Coal, Hitting New Milestone
Drawing on five years of the European Green Deal, the EU has reached a new electricity milestone: solar power has overtaken coal power for the first time in its history.
“The EU is striding closer towards a clean energy future powered by homegrown wind and solar,” explains Dr. Beatrice Petrovich, Senior Energy and Climate Analyst at Ember. “This new energy system will reduce the bloc’s vulnerability to fossil price shocks, tackle the climate crisis, and deliver affordable energy for its households and companies.”
2024 has been another year of coal and gas decline – the fifth consecutive year for gas – thus cutting EU power sector emissions to below half its 2007 peak and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels even more. Five years since the European Green Deal was signed in 2019, renewables have expanded their share from 34% to 47%. The fossil share declined from 39% to a historic low of 29% during that period. Solar energy was the fastest-growing power source in Europe in 2024, and wind energy was the second-largest, above gas and below nuclear.
