More than half of Latvia's electricity comes from renewables

Take note – story published 2 years ago

Latvia ranks pretty highly among its European Union member state peers when it comes to the use of energy from renewable sources, according to data published by Eurostat January 26.

In 2020, renewable energy sources made up 37% of gross electricity consumption in the EU, up from 34% in 2019. 

Wind and hydropower accounted for over two-thirds of the total electricity generated from renewable sources (36% and 33%, respectively). The remaining one-third of electricity came from solar power (14%), solid biofuels (8%) and other renewable sources (8%). Solar power is the fastest-growing source: in 2008, it only accounted for 1% of the electricity consumed in the EU. 

Renewable electricity 2020
Renewable electricity 2020

Among the EU Member States, more than 70% of electricity consumed in 2020 was generated from renewable sources in Austria (78%) and Sweden (75%). The generation of electricity from renewable sources was also high and accounted for more than half of the electricity consumed in Denmark (65%), Portugal (58%), Croatia and Latvia (both 53%).

However, it is worth noting that Latvia's level has remained roughly the same for the last seven years, with between 51% and 54% of electricity coming from renewables (mainly hydropower) every year since 2014. The share of energy from renewable sources in heating and cooling was more than half in Sweden (66.4 %), Estonia (57.9 %), Finland (57.6 %) and Latvia (57.1 %).

The non-EU but EFTA countries Norway and Iceland reached a share higher than 100%, because they produced more electricity from renewables than their total electricity consumption.

At the other end of the scale, the share of electricity from renewable sources was 15% or less in Malta (10%), Hungary and Cyprus (both 12%), Luxembourg (14%) and Czechia (15%). 

Renewable energy targets in EU
Renewable energy targets in EU

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