The EU reached a new record low in electricity from fossil fuels in the first half of 2023. (energy-charts.info)
The EU reached a new record low in electricity from fossil fuels in the first half of 2023. (energy-charts.info)
According to the data gathered on energy-charts.info, the first half of 2023 saw the lowest production of electricity by fossil fuels since 2015. With 387 TWh (31.7% of load) from conventional sources it surpassed the previous low for a first half year of 400.9 TWh (32.1%) in 2020 by nearly 14 TWh or 3.5%.
At the same time renewables provided for more power than ever with 519.3 TWh providing 42.6% of the load.
Other records for a first half year in 2023 (see the bottom of the energy-charts page):
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lowest nuclear power production
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lowest fossil peat production
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lowest load
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highest pumped hydro usage (consumption+production)
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highest offshore wind production (23.922 TWh)
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highest onshore wind production (195.399 TWh)
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highest solar power production (98.698 TWh)
This marks a notable shift towards green energy compared to the first half of 2022: renewables increased from 488.8 TWh in the first half of 2022 to 519.3 TWh in the first half this year, while fossil fuels decreased from 475.3 TWh to 387 TWh.
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Since the increase of renewables was by 30.5 TWh and the decrease of fossil fuels was by 88.3 TWh means that the EU also produced less electricity and thus needed less of it, correct?
Yes, that is correct. The first half of 2023 was a new record low in electricity consumption for first half years (since 2015). You can also see that by toggeling the "Load" category. Extreme values in the tracked time period: maximum load 1,347 TWh in 2018 and minimum load this year with 1,219 TWh. Compared to last years first half there was:
- a reduction of load by 79.7 TWh
- a reduction of nuclear output by 11.9 TWh
- a reduction of conventional output by 88.2 TWh
- an increase of renewable output by 30.5 TWh
Finally to make the sums match up, we can look at the import balance: in the first half of 2022 the EU net imported 5.771 TWh, this year it net exported 4.23 TWh.