More than 68% of New European Electricity Capacity Came from Wind and Solar in 2011

Written by Stephen Lacey, ThinkProgress

As the sovereign debt crisis unfolds in Europe, onlookers have questioned whether the region will stay committed to renewable energy. The answer so far is “yes.”

Even with a few countries pulling back on government support of the industry because of fiscal troubles, 2011 was still a huge year for deployment — with wind and solar alone representing almost 70% of new capacity.

That’s almost a 10-fold increase over deployment in 2000, when only 3.5 GW of renewable energy projects were installed. Last year, 32 GW of renewables — mostly wind and solar — were deployed across European countries.

The figures come from the European Wind Energy Association, which just released a report on industry growth.

Growth in Europe has consistently outstripped forecasts. The EU currently has a target of getting 20% of its final energy (heat, electricity and fuels) from renewable energy. Numerous countries have already surpassed their needed targets in the electricity and heating sectors, and it’s likely that the entire region will move past the goal well ahead of schedule.

It’s expected that renewable electricity sources will meet 34% of demand in Europe by 2020, with 25 of 27 countries to surpass their targets beforehand.

In 2011, solar PV accounted for 26.7% of capacity additions, wind power accounted for 21.4% of additions, and natural gas made up 22% of installations. Below that was coal at 4.8%, fuel oil at 1.6%, large hydro at 1.3%, and concentrating solar power at 1.1% of capacity.

(A side note to anyone confused by terms: It is always important to remember that “capacity” is the ability to do work. It is completely different than actual electricity generation. Just because 68% of new capacity was added in 2011, doesn’t mean that Europe will get 68% more electricity from renewables. Hence, the major differences in generation figures).

So what does Europe’s power capacity mix look like today?

Notice the stunning increase in wind, solar and natural gas — by far the top three choices for developers in the region. However, coal and fuel oil still have a very large market share. Some experts are concerned that a roll back of nuclear in various countries will increase the share of fossil fuels, particularly coal.

But with wind, solar and gas prices all declining to record lows, the combination of those three resources could prevent a sizable increase in coal development.

This post originally appeared at ThinkProgress.

Photo credit: Stefan Gara

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Sarah M.

7:37PM PST on Feb 29, 2012

Cool, America needs to get a move on!

send a green star

Angel C.

11:19AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

Thanks.

Kathryn E.

10:46AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

I wish that the USA had started this 40+ years ago and not just because of global climate change but because of all the pollution that our children and grandchildren have had to deal with.

Nicole O.

9:23AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

why can't america learn from europe

Eco M.

5:06AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

Thank you.

Andrea A.

1:53AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

Thanks for sharing.

Leiah S.

4:11AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

This is real good news and the more we single families also use solar panel the better.

Danuta W.

3:08AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

thanks for sharing

Mick P.

1:24AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

Yeah when the government realises that all of these renewables are WAY more expensive and they haven't got the money this will all end. Renewables are an expensive government boondoggle to win green votes. They have NEVER been anything but a drain on the economy, and how long do you think a bankrupt Europe will put up to this.

Jelica R.

8:39AM PST on Feb 23, 2012

Learn about local incentives by searching this Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.

Learn more about geothermal heating and cooling from Climate Master.