DG Energy Newsletter

Nuclear power generated just over a fifth of the EU’s electricity in 2022, with 12 EU countries currently including it in their energy mix. The EU remains technologically neutral when it comes to energy sources, but, in one way or another, EU nuclear energy policy is relevant to all citizens across the EU.

The European Commission adopted on 11 March the first-ever EU network code on cybersecurity for the electricity sector. This delegated act is an important step to improve the cyber resilience of critical EU energy infrastructure and services.

After their first session in February, 150 randomly selected citizens from across the EU will come together again to discuss key themes of importance to achieve energy efficiency and the challenges to overcome.

The total support requested for renewable hydrogen production in Europe far exceeds the currently available budget of €800 million, provided by the Innovation Fund.

The 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Green Energy Advisory Council took place in Baku on 1 March 2024 to strengthen the partnership in the field of renewable energy.

The first tender with a new mid-term product for the purchasing of gas under the EU Energy Platform, closed on 17 February, attracted offers for a total volume of 97.4 billion cubic metres of gas, to respond to demand by European consumers.

Gas savings by businesses and citizens across the EU have made an important contribution to tackling the energy crisis, spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

The Commission published on 23 February its assessments of the draft updated National Energy and Climate Plans for 2021-2030 (NECPs) of Belgium, Ireland and Latvia, which include recommendations on where these countries should raise their ambitions in line with EU targets for 2030.

European electricity and gas markets in the third quarter of 2023 were characterised by continued recovery from record high price levels seen in 2022, but gas prices showed that the market remains volatile, according to the latest quarterly reports.

The report, published by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, highlights the need to reduce gender inequalities in the energy transition and calls for the recognition of the complex connections between gender, energy poverty and the broader energy transition, and to take action to address them.

In 2022, renewable energy sources made up 41.2% of gross electricity consumption in the EU, 3.4 percentage points more than in 2021 (37.8%) and well ahead of other electricity-generation sources such as nuclear (less than 22%), gas (less than 20%) or coal (less than 17%).

Energy for heating and cooling makes up around half of the EU’s total gross final energy consumption. In 2022, the share of energy from renewables in heating and cooling continued to rise, with the EU average standing at 24.8%, up 1.8 percentage points from 2021 (23.0%).

The 27 EU countries’ total investment in heat pumps increased from €13 billion in 2020 to €23 billion in 2023 – almost the double! - despite a slow-down last year, due to cooling energy prices and subsidy cuts. Source: BloombergNEF