European Solar Overtakes Coal

But the EU must stay the course to meet their climate goals

The European solar industry achieved a major milestone in 2024, surpassing coal generation for the fist time, according to new data from Ember. That hasn’t happened before–––it’s another nail in the coffin for the EU’s coal sector, which has dropped by about two thirds over the last 20 years and is on its way out. The EU’s power sector also achieved a record low amount of carbon emissions, aided by the growth in solar and accompanying a drop in coal.

Solar generation grew 22 percent in 2024, reaching 304 terawatthours. Coal, by contrast, dropped 16 percent, down to 269 terawatthours. Coal output in the EU has dropped by about two thirds since the early 2000’s. Fortunately, the rise of wind and solar generation in Europe has helped put a major dent in coal generation, simultaneously driving down electricity CO2 emissions from a peak of 1,217 million tons in 2007 to 585 million tons in 2024, more than a 50 percent reduction. Along with a rebound of output from hydro and nuclear generation, growing solar generation helped push the EU to achieve a record 71 percent clean generation mix.

Europe is at a pivotal moment for decarbonization with a new Commission in place and a focus on 2030 and 2040 targets as the EU committed to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 55 percent relative to 1990 levels and has a goal of achieving a 90 percent reduction by 2040.

Under the EU’s decarbonization framework, the Commission relies on a mix of EU-wide policies as well as member country policies that must meet EU-wide targets. Recently released modeling using our European Union Energy Policy Simulator shows that based on current EU-wide policy and finalized national level policy, the EU is not on track to meet the 2030 target. However, this latest year of data for electricity offers some hope that at least the power sector is headed the right direction.