European renewables surpass fossil fuels for second year

Renewables produced more energy than fossil fuels in Europe in the first half of 2019, as it did for the first six months of 2018, according to a report by energy data analysts EnAppSys.

The announcement was the central part of the report, which showed that 245.8 TWh were generated by renewables in 2019's second quarter, April to June, 21% higher than that produced from coal, oil, gas and other fossil fuels during the same period.

The figures are a repeat of the previous year's pattern which saw renewables generate 288.4 TWh and 252.8 TWh in Q1 and Q2 respectively, compared with a fossil fuel generation of 258.9 TWh and 224.8 TWh. 

EnAppSys has described the figures to be indicative of a trend which is bringing further stability to the power market in Europe. 

“The state of the power fuel mix across Europe has largely stabilised, with levels of renewables no longer seeing large increases and the balance between coal and gas largely staying static," said Jean-Paul Harreman, director of EnAppSys.

“This means that the share of generation from fossil fuels, renewables and nuclear have largely remained static since 2017, with renewables providing more than fossil fuels in the first half of the year and this trend reversing in the second half of the year.”

Nuclear power was the dominant energy source in the European power mix during Q2 2019, with an output of 28.2%. Hydro power produced 17.5%, gas 17%, coal and lignite 14.7%, wind power 11.5%, solar energy 6.5% and biomass 3.4%. The remaining 1.2% came from oil, waste and peat.

“Although many countries are claiming they are moving towards a renewable future, a large share of European electricity continues to be generated from dirty fuel sources. Coal and lignite plants continued to produce a high share of total generation in the second quarter (92.1TWh), which is only 22% down on Q2 2016 levels," said Jean-Paul Harreman.

“In the short term, this trend could continue as many operators are finding it difficult to secure finance and subsidy support for renewable projects. There is also the challenge of switching from coal to gas in regions in which domestic gas supplies and gas infrastructure is low,” he continued.

If the EU is to meet its 2030 clean energy goal of a 32% production from renewables, it is estimated that green energy should account for a minimum of 50% power consumption for the whole year. This means that significant expansion in green energy generation is necessary to bring it up from 39%.

The EnAppSys report came in the same week as Ursula von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President in October. Mrs von der Leyen pledged to make climate action a priority in her Green New Deal during the first 100 days of her tenure and said she will seek to strengthen emissions targets and introduce measures to speed up the investment in clean tech.

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