Wind and solar power production in the European Union increased by 46% from 2019 to 2023, displacing a fifth of the EU’s fossil fuel power generation, according to data published by climate and energy think tank Ember , Reuters and DPA report.

In 2019, the current management of the European Commission took over its duties, which proposed an objective of 45% of renewable energy sources in the energy mix by 2030.

In recent years, Europe has expanded renewable energy generation as part of efforts to wean off Russian fuels and meet its climate goals. The EU has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Since 2019, the EU’s wind and solar energy capacity has increased by 65%. Wind power capacity has climbed 31% to 219 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, while solar power capacity has more than doubled to 257 GW, the equivalent of installing more than 230,000 solar panels every day in 2019 – 2023, according to Ember data, according to Agerpres.

Without this expansion, fossil fuel power generation would have fallen by just 1.9% (21 TWh), instead of 22%, as lower electricity demand offset the decline in generation from other clean energy sources.

“The European Union now has more wind and solar power than ever before, which has led to a record drop in coal and gas-fired electricity generation,” said Sarah Brown, director at Ember.

Additional wind and solar power capacity has seen the share of total renewable energy in the EU’s electricity mix reach 44% in 2023, up from 34% in 2019. Following the reduction in coal and gas-fired electricity generation, the share of of fossil fuel-based energy in the EU’s electricity mix fell to 32.5% in 2023, from 39% in 2019.

Germany was responsible for 22% of the increase in wind and solar energy production at the EU level, followed by Spain with 13%. More than half of the EU member states have at least doubled their wind and solar energy capacity between 2019 and 2023.