Brussels, January 27 - Neftegaz.RU. In 2018, the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption reached 18.0% in the European Union (EU), up from 17.5% in 2017 and more than double the share in 2004 (8.5%), the first year for which the data are available.
These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The increase in the share of renewables is essential to reach the EU climate and energy goals. The EU's target is to reach 20% of its energy from
renewable sources by 2020 and at least 32% by 2030.
Among the 28 EU Member States, 12 Member States have already reached a share equal to or above their national 2020 binding targets: Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia,Greece, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Finland and Sweden.
4 Member States are close to meet their targets (i.e. less than 1 percentage point (pp) away), 9 are between 1 and 4 pp away, while three are 4 or more pp away from their
targets.
Sweden had by far the highest share with more than half (54.6%) of its energy coming from renewable sources,ahead of Finland (41.2%), Latvia (40.3%), Denmark (36.1%) and Austria (33.4%).
Lowest share in the Netherlands (7.4%). Low shares, less than 10% , were also recorded in Malta (8.0%),Luxembourg (9.1%) and Belgium (9.4%).
