European Commission: EU overachieves 2020 renewable energy target

At EU level, the share of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources reached 22% in 2020. This is 2 percentage points (pp) above the target level for 2020, as included in Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. This is a major achievement and an important milestone in the EU’s path towards climate neutrality by 2050.

This information comes from data on renewable energy published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

The Directive also defines 2020 national targets, which were set taking into account the starting point and overall potential for renewables in each country. When looking at the national targets, 26 Member States met or exceeded them for 2020. Some countries had to conclude statistical transfers in 2020 to meet their targets (see the ‘for more information’ section). The Member States that significantly exceeded their 2020 targets were Sweden, Croatia (both +11 pp) and Bulgaria (+7 pp). France, by contrast, fell short of its target (-3.9 pp).

With more than half of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources, Sweden (60%) had by far the highest share among the EU Member States in 2020, ahead of Finland (44%) and Latvia (42%).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions of renewables were registered in Malta (11%), followed by Luxembourg (12%) and Belgium (13%).