Renewable energy production in the European Union increased sharply in the first quarter of 2020, reaching 40% of total electricity production, a quarterly record, the European Commission said in a new report on Monday 13 July.
According to the report, the share of electricity generated by fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil), on the other hand, fell from 38% in the first quarter of 2019 to 33% in the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to a sharp drop (-30%) in coal-fired power generation. This is the lowest quarterly figure ever recorded.
As a result, the carbon footprint of electricity generation in the EU has decreased by 20% compared to the first quarter of 2019, the paper says.
For the Commission, this “radical change” in the structure of the EU’s energy mix is due to containment measures in combination with a relatively warm and windy winter.
The report also notes that electricity consumption has fallen by 3%, while sales of electric vehicles have doubled compared to the same period in 2019.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2WhPYOR (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)