Europe made more electricity from sunshine than coal last year, a report has found, in what analysts called a “milestone” for the clean energy transition.
Solar panels generated 11% of the EU’s electricity in 2024, while coal-burning power plants generated 10%, according to data from climate thinktank Ember. The role of fossil gas fell for the fifth year in a row to cover 16% of the electricity mix.
“This is a milestone,” said Beatrice Petrovich, co-author of the report. “Coal is the oldest way of producing electricity, but also the dirtiest. Solar is the rising star.”
Europe’s industrialisation was powered by coal but the fuel has pumped out more planet-heating pollution than any other energy source. Coal-burning in the EU power sector peaked in 2007 and has halved in the years since.
At the same time, clean sources of electricity have boomed. Wind and solar energy rose to 29% of EU electricity generation in 2024,…
