Poland responsible for 1/3 of the EU's coal-based electricity
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"In 2021, Poland was by far the biggest brake on European climate policy," Charles Moore, Ember's director for Europe, said.
The think tank report shows that Poland produced almost a third of the EU's electricity from coal and increased emissions from the energy sector by 7 percent compared to 2019. Think tank Ember presented trends in the European power industry based on data from the past year.
The report is the sixth publication on the energy sector in the EU published by Ember. It compares electricity data for 2021 with data for 2020 and 2019.
The analysis shows that in 2021 fossil fuels still accounted for 37 percent of the total electricity production in the EU, which means a decrease from 39 percent compared to 2019. Renewable energy sources (RES) at the same time generated 37 percent, while nuclear energy – 26 percent.
Poland recorded one of the most impressive growth rates, quadrupling solar energy production – from 1 TWh in 2019 to 4 TWh in 2021. However, the share of photovoltaics in electricity production in Poland last year was only 2 percent. Recent changes to the prosumer billing system mean that growth in 2022 may, however, slow down.
