BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11. The European Union still relies heavily on fossil fuels and faces urgent challenges in the race to decarbonize and secure its energy future, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director General for Energy at the European Commission, said during the European Sustainable Energy Week, Trend reports.
“We still have a significant share of fossil energy in our energy system. It's about two-thirds in total,” Jørgensen stated. “While our electricity is fairly clean by now with high levels of renewables, with nuclear as well, the overall energy mix for transport, for industry, still includes a lot of fossil. And when we speak fossil, then that is almost all of it imported.”
Jørgensen underscored the central role of electrification in Europe's energy transition, highlighting its benefits not only for climate goals but also for cost and energy security. However, she acknowledged that progress has stalled.
“Our electrification rate has actually stagnated. We are around 23%, compared to China, which is above 30%,” she said. “One of the reasons for that is very, very slow permitting when it comes to the build-out of grids and renewable energy. It takes somewhere between seven and ten years for new projects.”
Jørgensen warned of a critical investment shortfall, calling for decisive financial mobilization. “We need around 600 billion euros per year between now and 2030 alone, and more after that. And we can see that we are simply not currently quite delivering that,” she said.
Addressing broader geopolitical and economic pressures, she noted: “There is a defining moment in energy policy, and the global landscape is marked by uncertainty and rapid change. European competitiveness is under pressure. We have seen jobs move out. We have seen manufacturing capacity close down.”
High energy prices remain a central concern for both industry and households across the EU. “These consistently high energy prices across the European Union are straining our industries,” she said. “They're about two or three times higher compared to the United States.”
Reflecting on the 2022 energy crisis, she said: “At the peak of the energy crisis in the summer of 2022, we saw prices at around €300 per MWh for gas. Those are now down towards €30 – a very significant change. But nonetheless, prices do remain higher than they were before the COVID pandemic.”
Jørgensen pointed to EU initiatives such as the Action Plan for Affordable Energy and the Clean Industrial Deal as evidence of the bloc's proactive stance. “We have stability and predictability. We have set out very clearly where we want to be in 2050. For investors, for businesses, this is the single most important factor.”
She emphasized the bloc's progress on clean energy deployment: “We now have about 78 gigawatt of installed capacity, and that should increase to 89 gigawatt in 2025. We are on track to meet our targets for 2030 and beyond.”
Highlighting the EU’s internal market as a key asset, she concluded: “We do have an internal energy market. That means that we can secure energy and electricity supplies, and we can give it at lower costs.”
Jørgensen’s remarks come at a critical time as the EU intensifies efforts to build a resilient, green energy system while maintaining economic competitiveness in a volatile global environment.