In 2020, Croatia and Sweden increased the share of green energy in their total energy consumption the most, exceeding by far the goals set by the European Commission, a report by the European statistical office Eurostat shows.

At the EU level, the share of energy from renewable sources in the gross final consumption in 2020 was 22%, exceeding the set target by two percentage points.

Sweden was far ahead of other EU countries, its share of energy from renewables exceeding 60%, followed by Finland and Latvia, with shares of 44 and 42% respectively.

Croatia’s share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption was 31%, almost the same as in Denmark and Estonia.

Malta, Luxembourg and Belgium had the lowest shares of energy from renewables in the total energy consumption, between 11 and 13%, Eurostat said.

All EU countries except France (which was four percentage points below the set 23% share) reached or exceeded the set shares of green energy in the total consumption in 2020, with Sweden and Croatia exceeding them the most, by 11 percentage points each.

Green electricity in 2020 accounted for 37.5% of the gross final consumption in the EU. It was produced mostly in hydroelectric power plants and wind parks, which accounted for two-thirds of electricity from renewable sources. The remaining third was solar energy, solid biofuels and other renewable energy sources.

The share of electricity produced in photovoltaic systems has dramatically increased since 2008, from one to 14%.

The largest shares of green electricity in the total consumption in 2020 were registered by Austria and Sweden, of more than 70%, and Denmark and Portugal also had high shares, of around 60%.

In Croatia the share of electricity from renewables in the gross final consumption was 53.8%.

It was lowest in Malta, Hungary and Cyprus, ranging from 9.5% to 12%.

Renewable sources of energy are used much more than before, both for heating and for cooling, with their share having almost doubled in 2020 compared to 2004, to 23.1%, mostly owing to trends in industries, the services sector and households, Eurostat said.

In Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Latvia, renewables in 2020 accounted for more than half of energy used for heating and cooling.

In Croatia their share in energy used for heating and cooling in 2020 was 36.9%.

In Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium that share was below 10%.