In 2021, 21.8% of the European Union’s gross final energy consumption came from renewable sources, a decrease of 0.3% from 2020. This falls short of the EU’s 2030 goal of 32%.
The EU emphasized that member states must increase their efforts to meet the requirements set in the Regulation 2018/1999 on the governance of the energy union and climate action. In 2021, the European Commission proposed an amendment to the Renewable Energy Directive, which aims to raise the renewable energy target to 40%. Furthermore, the REPowerEU plan in 2022 aims to set an even higher target of 45%.
In 2021, Sweden had the highest percentage of energy from renewable sources among EU Member States, with 62.6% of its gross final energy consumption coming from renewables, mostly from a mix of biomass, hydro, wind, heat pumps and liquid biofuels. Other countries with high shares of renewable energy included Finland (43.1%), Latvia (42.1%), Estonia (37.6%), Austria (36.4%), and Denmark (34.7%). These countries primarily relied on biomass and hydro, with some also utilizing wind and other sources.
In 2021, 15 out of 27 EU member states had a lower share of renewable energy than the EU average. These countries include Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia. The countries with the lowest proportion of renewables were Luxembourg (11.7%), Malta (12.2%), the Netherlands (12.3%), Ireland (12.5%), and Belgium (13.0%).
The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in 2021 led to an increase in energy consumption, resulting in a decrease in the share of renewables despite a rise in absolute renewable energy production compared to 2020. This trend can also be explained by a change in data reporting methodologies.
Data for 2020 is calculated based on Directive 2009/28/EC (RED I) while data for 2021 follows Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RED II). The change in legal basis causes a discontinuation in data series between 2020 and 2021.
