A moderate increase in demand and a fall in wind and hydro generation that offset a record first quarter (Q1) for solar led to a 17 percent rise in fossil fuel power production in the European Union in the January-March period, the European Commission has said.
The 27-member bloc generated 681 terawatt hours (tWh) of electricity in the first quarter (Q1), up 9 tWh from the same three-month period last year, according to the Commission’s quarterly electricity market report.
The share of renewables dropped to 41 percent or 282 tWh from 46 percent in Q1 2024, while the share of fossil fuels rose to 33 percent or 227 tWh from 28 percent in Q1 2024. Nuclear accounted for 33 percent of Q1 2025 generation.
Onshore wind remained the biggest renewable power source in the EU, despite a 17 percent or 22 tWh year-on-year decline to 107 tWh. Onshore wind accounted for 38 percent of renewables generation in the EU in Q1 2025.
Offshore wind also decreased 22 percent or 4 tWh to 15 tWh. It accounted for 5 percent of the total EU renewables generation.
Hydro generation declined 15 percent or 16 tWh to 91 tWh, “albeit from high levels in Q1 2024”, the report said. Hydro had a 32 percent share of the total renewables generation.
The declines offset a new record-high Q1 for solar. Solar generation grew 30 percent or 10 tWh to 45 tWh.
However, the Commission said in a separate statement, “A closer look at the figures shows that, after atypically weak generation in January and February, renewable output started to pick up again in March, indicating a positive trajectory for the upcoming months”.
Meanwhile fossil fuel generation climbed 17 percent or 33 tWh year-on-year. “In total, coal-fired generation rose by 15 percent (+11 TWh), whereas less CO2-intensive gas generation increased even stronger by 23 percent (+21 TWh)”, the report said.
EU consumption slightly increased, by one percent or 8 tWh, to 657 tWh in Q1 2025. “On the national level, eighteen Member States, saw an increase in electricity consumption, while the remaining countries were stagnant or experienced a decline”, the report said.
“Despite this modest increase, demand levels for Q1 2025 were still below the pre-crisis average (-6 percent, compared to the 2015-2019 range)”.
The European Power Benchmark rose 49 percent year-on-year to EUR 100 per megawatt hour (mWh). National quarterly average prices ranged from EUR 49 per mWh in Finland to EUR 145 per mWh in Ireland.
“The largest year-on-year price increases were recorded in Portugal (+93 percent) and Spain (+92 percent), where prices had been rather low in Q1 2024. Prices rose significantly also in Slovenia (+91 percent)”, the report said. “In contrast, price drops were registered only in Finland (-32 percent) and Sweden (-9 percent)”.
“Retail electricity prices for households in EU capital cities rose marginally by 3 percent in Q1 2025 (EUR 255/MWh)”, it added. “This increase is driven by a rise in energy taxes and network charges, which offset a slight decrease in the energy component.
“Additionally, there was significant variation between Member States with several seeing double-digit percentage increases (e.g. Austria, Luxembourg, Poland) and others seeing large decreases in retail prices due to lower energy costs (e.g. Slovenia, Ireland, Finland)”.
“The number of hours with negative wholesale prices in Q1 2025 (814) was 103 percent higher than in Q1 2024”, the report noted. “This represented an increase of 0.6 pp in the share of trading hours with negative prices in the total number of trading hours (1.1 percent).
“March saw the occurrence of negative prices booming, registering a record number of 756 hours with negative prices, despite a slow start in January and February. Sweden led European countries with the highest occurrence of negative prices in Q1 2025.
“The increasing occurrence of negative prices signals the need for short-term storage and flexibility, increased interconnectivity, and incentives for demand-side response”.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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