The EU has withstood critical risks to its security of energy supply, regained control over the energy market and prices, and accelerated the transition towards climate neutrality. These are the main findings of the State of the Energy Union 2024 report, which takes stock of the EU’s progress in 2023-24 towards the objectives of the Energy Union, the REPowerEU plan to reduce dependencies on Russia’s fossil fuels, and the clean energy transition.
According to the report, the EU has successfully put in place the necessary regulatory and financing framework to achieve its 2030 climate and energy goals and lay the foundations for renewed economic growth and competitiveness.
For consumers, measures taken at EU level to tackle the energy crisis have paid off and electricity and gas prices have fallen drastically compared to the peaks in 2022. New energy market legislation, such as the reformed EU Electricity Market Design, means that the most vulnerable are also better protected from disconnection. In the event of a natural gas price crisis, EU countries can now introduce measures to protect consumers and ensure access to affordable energy and essential social services.
Significant progress has been made on renewable energy:
- In the first half of 2024, half of the EU’s electricity generation came from renewable sources.
- Wind power overtook gas to become the EU’s second largest source of electricity behind nuclear energy.
- The EU’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 32.5% from 1990 to 2022, while the EU economy grew by around 67% in the same period.
The EU also managed to ensure that the share of Russian gas in EU imports dropped from 45% in 2021 to 18% by June 2024. Meantime, imports from trusted partners like Norway and the US increased. And the EU reached its 90% winter gas storage target on 19 August 2024, well ahead of the 1 November deadline.
While significant progress has been made in meeting the objectives of the Energy Union, the report finds there are areas where improvements are needed.
- The EU’s energy efficiency efforts need to be stepped up further if it is to meet the 11.7% final energy consumption reduction target by 2030.
- The electrification of heating equipment and the rate of renovation of buildings, in particular, are singled out for improvement.
- The report also strongly urges that all EU countries submit their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans as soon as possible, to ensure collective achievement of the 2030 energy and climate goals.
Source: commission.europa.eu