Share of energy consumption from renewable sources in Europe

In 2025, renewables accounted for 26.3% of final energy consumed in the European Union, one percentage point more than in 2024. The increase was mainly driven by solar and wind power, followed by heat pumps, supporting greater energy independence. The share of renewables is expected to continue rising. Achieving the EU minimum target of 42.5% by 2030 will require average deployment rates to triple compared with the previous five-year average, implying a profound transformation of the European energy system.

Figure 1. Progress towards renewable energy source targets for EU-27

Renewables offer multiple benefits over fossil fuels, including climate change mitigation and, in the case of non-combustible renewables, reduced air pollutants, while also reducing Europe’s exposure to fossil fuel price volatility and improving energy security. The revised Renewable Energy Directive sets a binding minimum 42.5% EU renewables target in gross final energy consumption by 2030, to which all Member States contribute, without binding national targets. With electricity decarbonising fastest, the EU Electrification Action Plan of 2026 sets a 46% indicative EU electrification target for 2040.

At 26.3% in 2025, the EU renewables share is estimated to have increased by one percentage point from 2024. Three times faster deployment than over the past five years is needed to meet the RepowerEU goals.

Renewable consumption grew by an estimated 3.4% between 2024 and 2025, driven by solar power, heat pumps and wind power (growing by 20%, 7% and 3%), while non-renewables fell slightly (2%).

The electricity system led decarbonisation in 2025, with an estimated 50% of EU power generated from renewables. Heating and cooling (27%) and transport (12%) followed, driven by heat pumps (+7%) and renewable electricity in road transport (+25%), compared to 2024.

While slowly declining, bioenergy remained the largest category in 2025, at above 40% of all renewable energy consumption, and dominating renewable heat supply. Wind (18%), solar photovoltaics (13%) and hydropower (12%) followed, then heat pumps and liquid biofuels (8%). Other renewables included biogas, renewable waste, geothermal and solar thermal.

Over the long-term, the renewables share increased by an estimated 2.6 times between 2005 and 2025, driven by dedicated policies and support schemes, as well as rising competitiveness of renewables. This corresponds to a compound annual growth rate of 4.3% over the past decade (4.9% since 2005).

Achieving the 2030 target will depend on faster implementation efforts at national level and increased investments in renewables and energy efficiency solutions. EEA findings identify renewables, electrification and flexibility as key levers. A recent EEA briefing shows that while gas prices still drive wholesale electricity prices up, by mid-April 2026 renewables have saved EU users EUR 29 billion. By 2030, renewables could reduce average wholesale electricity prices, provided grids, storage and demand response keep pace.

Sweden, Finland and Denmark had the highest RES shares among Member States in 2025 due to strong hydro industries (Sweden and Finland), wind power and wide use of solid biofuels for district heating. By contrast, Belgium, Slovakia and Ireland reported the lowest shares of renewables (15%, 16% and 17%, respectively) in 2025, according to early estimates.

Over time, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Finland have shown the highest growth in RES shares, with more than 24 percentage points increase since 2005. Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Slovakia have seen an increase of less than ten percentage points over this period.

Renewable energy shares are estimated to have increased in 23 Member States between 2024 and 2025. Luxembourg, Lithuania, Sweden and the Netherlands top the list, increasing their RES share by more than two percentage points in 2025.

In the European Economic Area, Norway and Iceland have RES shares of around 80%, generating most of their electricity from hydropower, while in Iceland, geothermal energy dominates. Of the Energy Community Treaty Contracting Parties, Albania and Montenegro have RES shares of about 40%; all others exceed 20%, except Kosovo, at an estimated 17%.

Supporting information

Definition

This indicator measures the EU’s progress towards achieving its 2020 and 2030 renewable energy targets. Gross final renewable energy consumption is the amount of renewable energy consumed for electricity, heating and cooling, and transport in the 27 EU Member States, and is expressed as a share of gross final energy consumption.

The Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) defines gross final energy consumption as the energy commodities delivered for energy purposes to final consumers (industry, transport, households, services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries), including the consumption of electricity and heat by the energy branch for electricity and heat production, and including losses of electricity and heat in transmission and distribution.

Figure 1 shows consumption of energy from renewable sources (including only certified biofuels complying with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) sustainability criteria) as a proportion of gross final energy consumption and the recently adopted 2030 target.

Figure 2 shows the consumption of energy from renewable sources as a proportion of gross final energy consumption by country. It illustrates the progress made by the EU and its Member States in the last year.

For more information, please refer to the EEA's annual Trends and projections in Europe, Eurostat’s page on renewable energy statistics, and the Commission’s Energy Union reports and Climate Action Progress reports.

Methodology

Eurostat data

The renewable energy share data used for 2005-2023 were taken directly from the Eurostat SHARES tool. The SHARES tool focuses on the harmonised calculation of the share of energy consumption from renewable sources among the 27 EU Member States. This is done in accordance with the RED guidelines and is based on national energy data reported to Eurostat. The SHARES tool detailed results and manual are available online:(https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/database/additional-data).

Electricity generation from hydropower and wind power must be normalised to smooth the effect of weather-related variations. In the case of hydropower, the normalisation is based on the ratio of electricity generation to the installed capacity averaged over 15 years; in the case of wind power, a similar normalisation formula is applied over five years. The SHARES tool takes into account all biofuels consumed in transport between 2005 and 2010, and only biofuels certified as being in compliance with the RED sustainability criteria for the years starting from 2011.

With regard to the calculation of the gross final energy consumption for Cyprus and Malta, the derogation in RED was used. This derogation allows these countries to consider the amount of energy consumed in aviation, as a proportion of their gross final energy consumption, to be no more than 4.12%.

The discussion on individual renewable energy sources was based on Eurostat energy balances, since the SHARES tool focus on sectors, rather than individual sources. The comparison is made based on their primary energy supply.

Proxy data

Values for 2005-2023 are compiled by Eurostat and reported by Member States. An update of this indicator with EEA estimates for the previous year takes place every autumn.

Targets

The 2030 target presented in this indicator was adopted in October 2023 and is defined as a share of renewable energy in the EU’s gross final energy consumption of 42.5% by 2030 with an additional “aspirational” 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%.

Policy/environmental relevance

This indicator is a headline indicator for monitoring progress towards achieving the aims of the 8th Environment Action Programme (8^th EAP). It contributes mainly to monitoring progress towards sustainable energy aspects of Article 2.f of the 8^th EAP which requires: ‘promoting environmental aspects of sustainability and significantly reducing key environmental and climate pressures related to the Union’s production and consumption, in particular in the areas of energy, industry, buildings and infrastructure, mobility, tourism, international trade and the food system’. The European Commission Communication on the 8^th EAP monitoring framework specifies that this indicator should monitor the achievement by 2030 of the EU target of 42.5% renewable energy share in gross final energy consumption.

RED II (2018/2001/EU) establishes an overall policy for the production of energy from renewable sources and the promotion of its use in the EU. The RED III revising RED II was adopted in 2023, introducing stronger measures and a new 2030 target for renewables, aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Achieving the 2030 target will depend on the fast implementation of the reinforced policy and legal framework in the Member States, especially via speeding up permitting procedures, better visibility of auctions for renewables and a better integration of the different sectors. Implementation needs to be accompanied by accelerated grid developments in order to absorb more renewables and the full implementation of a guarantee-of-origin system with energy purchase agreements to allow further development of the renewable consumer market. In addition, better and more integrated planning will be required to ensure not only a high efficiency of investment and an accelerated pace of development, but also that the market penetration of these renewable sources takes into account other policy objectives such as environment protection.

The share of renewable energy consumption in final energy consumption is a broad indicator of progress towards reducing the impact of energy consumption on the environment (i.e., through decreased greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant emissions). At the same time, impacts of increasing renewable energy consumption on landscapes, habitats and ecosystems, namely from construction, the use of water, the use of fertilisers and pesticides for biomass and biofuel crops, and the extraction of heavy metals for photovoltaic cells must also be considered.

Replacing fossil fuels with renewables results in lower carbon emissions. However, total carbon emissions are not necessarily determined by the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption, but by the total amount of energy consumed from fossil sources.

Accuracy and uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

Officially reported renewable energy data were compiled by Eurostat using annual joint questionnaires, which are shared by Eurostat and the International Energy Agency, following a well-established and harmonised methodology. Methodological information on the annual joint questionnaires and data compilation can be found on Eurostat's web page on metadata on energy statistics.

Values concerning the previous year, which normally are published by EEA during the autumn, are approximate (proxies) and have been estimated by the EEA. These proxies were not obtained following the formal collection process for official statistics and are therefore less accurate and reliable than official statistics.

Notes on uncertainties in the underlying statistics and methodology:

Biomass and bio-waste, as defined by Eurostat, cover organic, non-fossil material of biological origin, which may be used for heat production or electricity generation. They comprise wood and wood waste, biogas, municipal solid waste (MSW) and biofuels. MSW comprises biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes produced by different sectors. Non-biodegradable municipal and solid wastes are not considered renewable, but current data availability does not allow the non-biodegradable content of wastes to be identified separately, except in industry. Large data-gaps also exist regarding the energy use of wood, which further adds to the methodological uncertainty.

The electricity produced from hydropower storage systems is not classified as a renewable source of energy in terms of electricity production, but is considered part of the gross electricity consumption of a country. Hydropower and wind power generation are calculated as actual generation and normalised generation. Normalised generation is calculated using the weighted average load factor over the last 15 years for hydropower and the last five years for wind power.

The indicator measures the consumption of energy from renewable sources relative to total energy consumption for a particular country. The share of renewable energy could increase even if actual energy consumption from renewable sources falls. Similarly, the share could fall despite an increase in energy consumption from renewable sources.

Electricity consumption within a national territory includes imports of electricity from neighbouring countries. It excludes electricity produced nationally but exported abroad. In some countries, the contribution of electricity trade to total electricity consumption and the changes observed from year to year need to be looked at carefully when analysing trends in electricity from RESs. Environmental impacts at the national level are also concerned, since emissions are taken into account for the country in which the electricity is produced, whereas consumption is taken into account for the country in which the electricity is consumed.

Data sets uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified.

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified.

Data sources and providers

Metadata

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TypologyUN SDGsUnit of measureFrequency of dissemination

References and footnotes

The EEA estimate for the EU renewables share in 2025 differs by 0.1 percentage points from Eurostat’s preliminary estimate (26.2%; see nrg_ind_ren). The difference has resulted after disaggregating the preliminary data from Eurostat by technology and market sector.
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At the same time, EU final energy consumption increased slightly in 2025, compared with 2024 (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/primary-and-final-energy-consumption).
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More than two-thirds of bioenergy is produced from solid biomass, of which the majority is related to forest biomass. The most common uses of solid biomass are for residential heating and district heating, followed by electricity generation and (thermal) energy use in industrial processes. Increasing primary demand of forest biomass, including for supplying energy, represents one driver for decreasing forest carbon sinks in Europe (see also ‘GHG emissions from LULUCF in Europe’ | https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-land ). Gaseous biomass (biogas) is used to replace fossil gas uses, either for combined heat and power, balancing the electricity grid, or upgrading to biomethane. Liquid biofuels are mainly used directly or blended with gasoline and diesel in transport. EU policies define sustainability and GHG emission saving criteria for bioenergy to be eligible for state aid and count towards national and the EU’s renewable energy targets.
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The trends in the deployment of solar photovoltaics and heat pumps also provides reasons for optimism. However, reaching the target will require a challenging CAGR of 8% on the EU renewables share until 2030, which is almost twice as high as the observed rate over the past decade. Considering this, the EU must allocate more resources for a deep transformation of the energy system in line with targets for 2030 and beyond.
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This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
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EU, 2022, Decision (EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030, OJ L.

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EC, 2022, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the monitoring framework for the 8th Environment Action Programme: Measuring progress towards the attainment of the Programme’s 2030 and 2050 priority objectives. COM(2022) 357 final

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Share of energy consumption from renewable sources in Europe

Figure 1. Progress towards renewable energy source targets for EU-27

Figure 2. Share of energy from renewable sources, by country

Supporting information

Metadata

References and footnotes