Archive:Electricity generation statistics – first results

Data from November 2012, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article takes a look at the most recent statistics (provisional 2012 monthly cumulated data) on the volumes of electricity that have been produced and supplied at the level of the European Union (EU), the euro area (EA-17) and the totals for the EU-27 plus Norway, Croatia and Turkey. As illustrated by Figure 1, the supply of electricity in EU-27 decreased by 0.6% in 2012 compared to 2011.

Figure 1: EU-27 Evolution of electricity supplied, 2003-2012
(in GWh)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a), (nrg_105m)

Figure 2: EU-27 Electricity generation by source, 2012
(in %)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a), (nrg_105m)

Table 1: Electricity Statistics 2012 (in GWh)
(in GWh)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a), (nrg_105m)

Figure 3: Breakdown of electricity generation by source, 2012
(in %)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a), (nrg_105m)

Figure 4: Share of renewables in electricity generation, 2012
(in %)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a), (nrg_105m)

Main statistical findings

Production of electricity

After a decrease of electricity production in 2011 (-2.2 %), the volume of produced electricity at EU-27 level decreased once again in 2012 by 0.9 % compared to the preceding year.

Table 1 shows the production and supply data for EU-27 and euro area. Tables A to J show the production and supply data for all EU Member States plus Norway, Croatia and Turkey, by using monthly cumulated data for 2012 (2010 and 2011 data are final annual figures).

Belgium (-13.5 %), Portugal (-13.4 %), Denmark (-13.3 %), Netherlands (-9.4 %) and Romania (-9.4 %) are the Member States that recorded the largest decreases in electricity generation.

As regards the structure of electricity generation in 2012 (Figures 2 and 3):

the generation of conventional thermal electricity decreased by 4.6 % in the EU-27 and accounted for 52.3 % of total generation;
the generation of electricity by nuclear power plants decreased by 2.7 % in the EU-27 and accounted for 27.1 % of the total;
the electricity generation by hydro increased by 9 % while the generation by wind increased in the EU-27 by 11.5 % and represented respectively 11.7 % and 6.4 % of the total;
the electricity generation by solar is not available in the monthly cumulated data.

Norway recorded an increase in total generation (+15 %). In Turkey, generation increased in 2012 by 3.1 % and in Croatia, generation decreased by 2.5 % compared to 2011.

The electricity generated by nuclear power plants decreased by 2.7 % between 2011 and 2012. The largest share of electricity generated by nuclear in the 14 EU Member States that have nuclear facilities to produce electricity can be found in France (75.5 %), followed by Slovakia (55.3 %), Belgium (51.3 %), Hungary (46.6 %), Sweden (37.9 %) and Slovenia (35.9 %). Germany that has decided to close down its nuclear power plants during the next decade has a share of 16.2 %.

Electricity supplied to the market

The volume of electricity that is supplied to the market is defined as the total net volume of generated electricity minus export plus import minus the electricity that is absorbed by pumping. As illustrated in Figure 1, the supply of electricity in EU-27 decreased by 0.6 % in 2012 compared to 2011.

In 2012, the aggregated EU-27 imports and exports of electricity increased by 7.9 and 4.4 % respectively.

When looking at supply statistics at national level, the largest increases could be observed in Latvia (+10.2 %), Estonia (+8.9 %) and Malta (+3.9 %). In Turkey, the supply increased by 4.1 % compared to 2011.

The largest decreases in supply figures were observed in Cyprus (-7 %), Romania (-5.7 %), Luxembourg (-5 %), Belgium (-5 %), Portugal (-4.4%) and Ireland (-4.2 %).

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Panorama of energy - Panorama April 2009
Renewable energy - Statistics in focus 44/2012
Energy, transport and environment indicators - Pocketbook January 2013

Main tables

Energy (t_nrg), see:

Main indicators - Energy Statistics (t_nrg_indic)

Market share of the largest generator in the electricity market (tsier060)

Electricity generated from renewable sources (tsien050))

Energy Statistics - quantities (t_nrg_quant)

Total gross electricity generation (ten00087)

Consumption of electricity by industry, transport activities and households/services (ten00094)

Electricity consumption of households (tsdpc310)

Energy Statistics - prices (t_nrg_price)

Electricity prices for industrial consumers (ten00114)

Electricity prices for household consumers (ten00115)

Database

Energy (nrg), see:

Main indicators - Energy Statistics (nrg_indic)

Market share of the largest generator in the electricity market (nrg_ind_331a)

Energy Statistics - Euro-indicators in energy - monthly data (nrg_ind_34m)

Supply of electricity - monthly data (nrg_ind_342m)

Energy statistics - quantities, annual data (nrg_quant)

Energy statistics - supply, transformation, consumption (nrg_10)

Energy statistics - quantities, monthly data (nrg_quantm)

Energy statistics - supply, transformation, consumption (nrg_10m)

Dedicated section

Energy

Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)

Download Excel file

Methodology / Metadata

Energy Statistics (ESMS metadata file - nrg_indic_esms)
Energy Statistics - quantities (ESMS metadata file - nrg_quant_esms)

Other information

Regulation 713/2009 of 13 July 2009 establishing an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators
Regulation 714/2009 of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity
Directive 2009/72/EC of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity