BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 30. In 2022, the proportion of renewable sources in the EU's total energy consumption hit 23 percent, marking a 1.1 percentage point rise from 2021, Trend reports.
According to the European Commission, the EU's 2030 target for renewable energy has been bumped up from 32 percent to 42.5 percent (with aspirations to push it to 45 percent). Consequently, EU member states must step up their efforts to jointly meet this new 2030 target, necessitating a nearly 20 percentage point increase in the share of renewable energy sources in the EU's overall energy consumption.
At the same time, Sweden takes the lead among EU countries, with almost two-thirds (66 percent) of its total energy consumption in 2022 coming from renewable sources. Sweden's main sources include hydro, wind, solid and liquid biofuels, as well as heat pumps.
Following closely, Finland (47.9 percent) relies on hydro, wind, and solid biofuels, while Latvia (43.3 percent) depends mostly on hydro.
Denmark (41.6 percent) and Estonia (38.5 percent) secure the majority of their renewables from wind and solid biofuels.
Meanwhile, Portugal (34.7 percent) leans on solid biofuels, wind, hydro, and heat pumps, and Austria (33.8 percent) primarily utilizes hydro and solid biofuels.
Ireland (13.1 percent), Malta (13.4 percent), Belgium (13.8 percent), and Luxembourg (14.4 percent) posted the lowest percentages of renewable energy in their gross final energy consumption.
Overall, 17 out of the 27 EU member states reported figures below the EU average of 23 percent in 2022.