47% of electricity in the EU came from renewable sources last year

The European Union made significant progress in renewable energy in 2024, with 46.9% of electricity generated from renewable sources. Energy imports from countries outside the EU fell in the same year.

As Eurostat reported, Denmark led EU countries in electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES), with 88.4%, primarily generated from wind power. Portugal followed close behind at 87.5%, using both wind and hydropower, while Croatia reached 73.7%, mainly from hydropower.

At the bottom of the ranking were Luxembourg, Malta and Czechia, which recorded the lowest shares of electricity from renewable sources, at 5.1%, 15.1% and 15.9%, respectively. Wind and hydropower remained the main sources of renewable electricity, accounting for 39.1% and 29.9% of the total, respectively. Solar power accounted for 22.4%.

Between 2004 and 2023, the share of energy from renewable sources in the EU’s gross final energy consumption nearly tripled, rising from 9.6% to 24.5%. The 2023 revision of the Renewable Energy Directive raised the EU’s 2030 target from 32% to 42.5%, with an additional ambition to reach 45%. Achieving this ambitious target will require further investment and commitments from EU member states.

EU energy imports decline

Eurostat also issued a statement last week, noting that the EU reduced its dependence on energy imports in 2024. Imports of energy products amounted to EUR 375.9 billion, a 16.2% decrease, while the net mass of fuels fell by 7.1% compared with 2023. Oil imports fell both in value (-4.7%) and volume (-2.4%). Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas in gaseous form also fell significantly, with LNG down 39.1% in value and 15.1% in volume.

The United States and Norway remained the EU’s main energy suppliers. The United States accounted for 45.3% of LNG imports, followed by Russia (17.5%) and Algeria (10.7%). Norway supplied 45.6% of the EU’s natural gas, while Algeria contributed 19.3% and Russia 16.6%.

The methodology used to determine the shares of electricity from renewable sources focuses on electricity generation, not consumption. Hydropower data exclude pumped-storage plants, while solar energy includes both photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity generation.