Fossil fuels produced just 33 percent of the EU's power in the first half of this year, the lowest share on record based on data going back to 1990.
The main reason was lower electricity demand, which meant rising renewable energy output could meet a bigger proportion of electricity demand, the think tank Ember said.
Mild weather, consumption-cutting policies and high gas and power prices, in the wake of Russia slashing gas deliveries to Europe last year, have encouraged industries and consumers to curb energy use.
“Europe’s electricity transition has hit hyperdrive,” said Ember’s Europe lead Sarah Brown. “Clean power keeps smashing record after record.”
EU power demand in January-June was 4.6 percent lower than the same period in 2022 and the 33 percent generated by fossil fuels was down from 38 percent in the same period a year earlier, reports Reuters. This means that fossil fuels' share in EU power mix is at its lowest level since records began.
Across the EU's 27 member countries, fossil fuel-based power generation fell by 17 percent in the first half of the year, compared with the first half of 2022, Ember said. Coal, the most CO2-emitting fossil fuel, posted the steepest decline.
In May, coal produced less than 10 percent of EU electricity for the first time on record.
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