The EU generated more electricity with renewables than with gas for the first time in 2022

Despite the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 2022 was also the year in which renewable electricity production surpassed fossil fuel gas for the first time in history.. Thus, between solar and wind they produced 22.3% of the electricity of the 27, while gas remained at 20%. Despite this, Europe is already warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the EU Copernicus Service have warned in the report The State of the Climate in Europe 2022.

The increase in renewable generation was the result of several factors, such as record solar radiation and, above all, “a significant increase in the installed capacity of solar energy”. Despite this, the organization considers that there is “much more to do” to achieve the EU goal of having 42.5% renewable generation by 2030.

In Spain, in any case, this is the trend for years. In fact, wind power alone was already the main source of generation in 2021 (23.3% of the total) and was also above gas in 2020 (21.8% compared to 17.5%), although then the ' podium' was occupied by nuclear (22.2%). Solar, for its part, has been adding weight to the mix since 2019, especially thanks to photovoltaic, which went from contributing 3.5% in 2019 to 10.1% in 2022. In Spain, coal is practically residual since the thermal power plants began to be dismantled.

So far this year, between wind (24.6%), photovoltaic (13.5%), solar thermal (1.7%), hydraulic (10%) and the combined contribution of the rest of the renewables, the 50% of 'green' electricity generation. Solar power surpassed nuclear power and was at the level of wind power during the first days of May, something never seen in Spain.

In any case, the summer months must still pass in which the production of the wind turbines is affected when the wind stops blowing during heat waves. In addition, this makes it necessary to resort, precisely, to polluting sources such as gas, which comes into operation when the system is most stressed.

Regarding temperatures, the report is quite pessimistic. The number varies, but the result is virtually identical: 2022 was between the second and fourth warmest year in the region, depending on which data is used.. And the period between June and August was the one with the highest temperatures ever recorded. To this we must add that rainfall was below average in much of Europe, according to the report, which highlights that it was “the fourth consecutive dry year” in the Iberian Peninsula.