The share stood at 15.9% in 2004, increased to 28.6% in 2014 and jumped to 47.5% in 2024, according to fresh Eurostat data.
Wind (38.0% of the total) and hydro power (26.4%) accounted for almost two-thirds of the total electricity generated from renewables. Solar power followed, contributing 23.4%, while solid biofuels and other renewable sources accounted for 5.8% and 6.4%, respectively. Solar power is the fastest-growing source: in 2008, it accounted for only 1%, showing a robust increase from just 7.4 terawatt hours) (TWh) in 2008 to 304 TWh in 2024.
Data show that more than 75% of electricity consumed in 2024 was generated from renewable sources in Austria (90.1%, mostly hydro), Sweden (88.1%, mostly hydro and wind) and Denmark (79.7%, mostly wind). Shares above 50% were also registered in Portugal (65.8%), Spain (59.7%), Croatia (58.0%), Latvia (55.5%), Finland (54.3%), Germany (54.1%), Greece (51.2%) and the Netherlands (50.5%).
At the other end of the scale, the share of electricity from renewables was less than 25% in Malta (10.7%), Czechia (17.9%), Luxembourg (20.5%), Hungary and Cyprus (both 24.1%) and Slovakia (24.9%).
In 2024, 25.2% of gross final energy consumption in the EU) came from renewable sources, up by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2023. This share is 17.3 pp short of meeting the 2030 target (42.5%), which would require an annual average increase of 2.9 pp from 2025 to 2030.
Among the EU countries, Sweden recorded the highest share of its gross final energy consumption coming from renewable sources (62.8%). Sweden primarily relied on solid biomass, hydro and wind. Finland followed with 52.1%, relying on solid biomass, wind and hydro, while Denmark came in third with 46.8%, with most of its renewable energy sourced from solid biomass, wind and biogas. Latvia sits in fourth place on 45%.5.
The lowest shares of renewables were recorded in Belgium (14.3%), Luxembourg (14.7%), and Ireland (16.1%).
Source: A European Perspective, LSM
Originally published by LSM English (Latvian Public Media) on 14 January 2026 11:52