According to the yearly European Electricity review published by Ember, emissions in the EU power sector saw a remarkable 19% decline in 2023 compared to the previous year. This is the largest drop since at least 1990, surpassing comfortably the 13% annual drop recorded in 2020 during the pandemic.

The decline is even more impressive when compared to levels reached in 2007 when emissions from the power sector peaked. “Power sector emissions in the EU have nearly halved since their peak in 2007 – falling by 46% from 1,218 MtCO2 to 653 MtCO2 in 2023”, highlights Ember.

The report also reveals that the role of fossil fuels in the power sector has gone from significant to minor amid higher wind and solar generation. EU coal generation has halved since 2016, decreasing by 327 TWh or 49,5% while wind and solar output increased by 354 TWh over the same period.

Furthermore “wind generation reached a major milestone, surpassing gas for the first time” reveals Ember. Wind accounted for 18% of the power mix, becoming the second largest source while gas accounted for just 17%. As a result, “in 2023, the EU electricity mix reached a new milestone with more than two-thirds of electricity coming from clean sources for the first time.”

While coal generation reached an all-time low, it remains an important source of energy in many Eastern European countries. Poland is the most reliant with coal making up 61% of power generation. In Romania, the share of coal is 14% above the EU’s average of 12%.

However, our country was one of the EU’s largest hydropower producers in 2023 with 18 TWh, representing a 33% share in the electricity mix. Nuclear power is also an important source of energy. Romania ranks tenth in the EU in terms of nuclear generation with 11.18 TWh. Still, the share of 19,87% in the power mix is below the EU’s average of 23%.