Cyprus trails most of the European Union when it comes to weaning itself off fossil fuels for electricity, with renewables making up just 27.5 per cent of gross consumption last year, figures released by Eurostat on Thursday reveal.
The island fares among the worst performers in the 27-member bloc, ahead only of Malta, on 11.2 per cent, the Czech Republic on 19.2 per cent, Luxembourg on 23.3 per cent and Slovakia on 24.1 per cent.
Across all forms of energy, not just electricity, Cyprus drew 21.5 per cent of its gross final consumption from renewable sources last year.
The picture across the EU as a whole was rather brighter. Renewables accounted for 49.9 per cent of gross electricity consumption bloc-wide, a jump of 2.4 percentage points on the previous year and a vast improvement on the 15.9 per cent recorded when records began in 2004.
Austria and Sweden led the pack by some distance, generating 90.8 per cent and 89.2 per cent of their electricity respectively from green sources. Denmark, Portugal, Greece and Spain all topped 60 per cent.
Looking at overall energy use, renewables made up 26.2 per cent of the EU’s gross final consumption last year, up from 25.2 per cent in 2024 and a world away from the 9.6 per cent share seen at the turn of the millennium.
Brussels, however, is unlikely to be popping the champagne corks just yet. The bloc has committed to hitting a 42.5 per cent renewables target by 2030, meaning it must now find annual increases averaging 3.3 percentage points every year between 2026 and 2030 – a considerably steeper climb than progress so far.
Sweden again topped the table for overall renewable energy use, drawing 65.4 per cent of its consumption from wood biomass, hydropower and wind. Finland, on 53 per cent, and Denmark, on 48.2 per cent, followed close behind, leaning on similar sources along with biogas.
At the bottom of the pile sat Belgium on 14.9 per cent, Slovakia on 16.3 per cent and Ireland on 17.2 per cent.
There was better news on heating and cooling, where renewables’ share across the EU climbed to 27.4 per cent last year – the highest figure since records began in 2004, when it stood at just 11.7 per cent. The increase of 0.7 percentage points on 2024 was slightly below the long-term average annual rise of 0.75 points.
