'A powerful buffer': How solar saved the EU €37.4 billion since the war on Iran began
Europe's solar boom is cushioning households from the crippling costs of gas, as the war on Iran continues to highlight the dangers of fossil fuel reliance.
Europe is cushioning itself from the volatile cost of fossil fuel imports thanks to a surge in solar power.
Gas prices remain sky-high seven months into the war on Iran – mainly due to the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that usually carries around one-fifth of the world's global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.
While POTUS Donald Trump assures the conflict will end "very soon", disruptions to the supply chain have left the EU grappling with yet another energy price crisis.
The benchmark Dutch TTF natural gas price traded at around €31.96 MWh on 27 February, the day before the war broke out. On 30 September, it traded at €72.35MWh, a 126.5 per cent increase.
However, new analysis by SolarPower Europe reveals that harnessing sunlight for power has saved Europe €37.4 billion by lowering demand for gas imports.
Solar is the 'route to long-term energy security'
"Every megawatt-hour generated by solar power reduces our dependence on imported fossil fuels and makes Europe safer," says Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe.
"This news follows solar becoming EU’s largest single source of electricity in June, supplying 25 per cent of the bloc's power. It's a demonstration of the returns on Europe's investment in abundant, homegrown renewable energy resources. We can go further and faster."
Hemetsberger adds that electrification, more renewable generation and non-fossil flexibility solutions such as battery storage can help shield Europe from the risks of future fossil fuel price shocks, becoming the "route to long-term energy security".
How renewables are shielding Europe from rising gas prices
Several European nations have already demonstrated the benefits of revolutionising their energy systems by focusing on green technology prior to the war on Iran.
Since 2019, Spain has doubled its wind and solar capacity, adding more than 40GW to its energy mix. To put that into perspective, a power plant with a capacity of 1 GW could power approximately 876,000 households for one year, if they consume the average of 10,000 kWh of electricity per year.
“Spain’s wind and solar growth has reduced the influence of expensive fossil generators on the electricity price by 75 per cent since 2019,” energy think tank Ember said in a report published last year.
“This decline in the hours where the electricity price was tied to gas power cost was faster than in other gas-reliant countries, such as Italy and Germany.”
In European power markets, the most expensive generator operating to meet demand, which is typically fossil fuels, sets the hourly wholesale electricity price. However, as generation from lower-cost technologies like wind and solar grows, it displaces gas and coal, meaning fossil fuels determine the price less often.
Record wind has also helped the UK break a new renewable record, despite "fantasy" claims that the country needs to drill the North Sea for oil.
On 26 March, British wind energy generation hit a new high of 23,880 megawatts, enough power to cover 23 million homes.
“Wind provided more than half of Britain’s electricity during this record period, and it’s highly significant that earlier in the day low-cost wind and solar squeezed expensive gas off our energy system – with gas falling to its lowest level of generation for nearly two years, providing just 2.3 per cent of our electricity,” says RenewableUK’s Tara Singh.
“That’s what the energy transition looks like in practice, and it shows why we need to continue to build out an ambitious pipeline of new clean energy projects now and in the years ahead.”
Are renewables slipping in the EU?
Despite the boom in solar, the EU is struggling to reduce its reliance on gas.
Recent data from Eurostat found that more than half (54.1 per cent) of electricity generated in the EU came from renewable energy sources during the second quarter (Q2) of 2026. This marks a slight decrease compared to the same period last year (54.3 per cent).
Total EU electricity generation increased by 3.2 per cent year-on-year in Q2, but during that same period gas-fired generation increased by 3.9 per cent while renewable generation only grew by 2.8 per cent.
This is despite solar witnessing significant growth, making up 41.6 per cent of renewable electricity generation – compared to 37 per cent last year.
Jonathan Bruegel, a power sector analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), tells Euronews Earth that the dip highlights the “case for a diversified mix” of hydro, wind and solar power.
“Gas held at 13.3 per cent, even with renewables above 50 per cent,” he adds. “This means that weak hydro and wind generation still bring gas back in, underlining again the need for more solar – which is a more stable intermittent technology than hydro and wind – storage, and flexibility.”
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