Fears Of EU Coal Power Rebound “Dead”

Record growth in wind and solar energy helped cushion the blow from a triple crisis in the EU’s electricity sector last year – which only caused what’s been termed a “minor ripple” in coal power growth.

As ties with Russian gas supply were cut, Europe was also challenged by low levels of hydro power due to drought and a bunch of nuclear power station units being offline. But renewables stepped in to help save the day.

According to energy think-tank Ember’s European Electricity Review released today, wind and solar power generated 22% of EU electricity in 2022, a new record. 2022 was the first time wind and solar overtook gas-fired electricity generation, which accounted for 20%. As for coal power, it increased by only 1.5 percentage points – 16% of EU electricity in 2022 – and there were year-on-year falls during the last four months of 2022.

Ember’s Dave Jones said Europe has avoided the worst of the energy crisis.

“The shocks of 2022 only caused a minor ripple in coal power and a huge wave of support for renewables,” he said. “Any fears of a coal rebound are now dead.”

Aside from the growth in renewables, also playing a significant role in reining in fossil fuel based electricity generation were a drop in demand resulting from mild weather, skyrocketing electricity prices and a general increase in awareness of the need to reduce electricity consumption.

Solar Power Surges

Last year solar energy generation racked up a record increase of 39 TWh, up 24%. Solar power produced 7.3% (203 TWh) of EU electricity in 2022, up from 5.7% in 2021. 20 EU countries set new records in 2022 for PV’s share in electricity generation.

41 GW of solar capacity was installed in 2022, 47% more than was added in 2021. The top 5 countries for capacity additions were:

• Germany: 7.9 GW
• Spain: 7.5 GW
• Poland 4.9 GW
• the Netherlands: 4 GW
• France: 2.7 GW

Just as comparison, around 1.4 GW of large-scale solar was connected in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) last year. But home solar uptake in Australia and other small-scale PV systems below 100kW capacity will add at least another 2.5GW to 2022’s total.

And on that note, EU households also embraced rooftop solar panels last year, installing a whopping 25 GW in 2022, which was 8 GW more than in 2021. Ember says rooftop solar power now represents 66% of the EU’s total installed solar capacity of 209 GW.

The role solar energy will play in the EU will only get bigger states Ember.

“Four years from now, and it is possible that solar will have tripled again to nearly 600 GW.”

Fossil Fuels To Fall Further In 2023

Ember says with a rebound in hydro generation, offline nuclear units coming back online, wind and solar deployment accelerating and electricity demand likely to continue to fall in the months ahead, Europe should see a huge fall in fossil fuel based power generation this year. The company estimates fossil generation could plummet by as much as 20% in 2023, which would be double the previous record from 2020.

The full European Electricity Review can be accessed here.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/european-electricity-review-mb2812/