Ember: Solar power tops EU energy mix for the first time in June

Data from the energy think tank Ember on Thursday showed that solar power became the largest source of electricity in the European Union for the first ever, surpassing wind and nuclear. Coal's contribution also fell to a record low.

Solar power generated 22,1% of EU electricity in the last month. This is up from 18,9%% one year ago, thanks to record sunshine and ongoing solar installations that boosted output to 45,4 terawatt-hours (TWh). Nuclear was next at 21.8%, and wind made up 15.8%.

Ember reported that at least 13 EU nations, including Germany and Spain, had recorded the highest monthly solar generation ever.

Chris Rosslowe is the lead author and senior energy analyst of Ember's report. He said that this milestone showed how quickly the EU's electricity system was changing. Solar is providing power when it is needed the most, during summer heatwaves or peak demand.

Coal's contribution to the EU's electricity mix dropped to a new record low of just 6.1% in June. This is compared to an 8.8% share last year.

Germany and Poland also experienced monthly lows that were record-breaking. Together, they generated almost 80% of coal-fired power in the 27-country EU bloc. In June, coal accounted for 42.9% in Poland and 12.4% in Germany.

In the same period, Spain, which is on its way to a complete phaseout of coal production, produced just 0.6% electricity using coal.

In May and June the wind power industry also broke new records, following a poor start to the year due to bad winds.

But despite the record solar and winds output in June, fossil energy usage in the first six months of 2025 increased 13% compared to last year. This was driven by an increase of 19% in gas production, which compensated for the weaker hydro and wind output at the beginning the year.

The demand for electricity in the EU increased by 2.2% during the first half of this year. Five of the six months showed an increase year-over-year.

Ember stated in the report that Europe's next challenge is to increase battery storage and grid flexibilty to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels when there are no solar hours.

(source: Reuters)