The share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in the EU increased to 16.7% in 2015 from 16.1% in 2014, nearly doubling since 2004 (8.5%), the first year for which the data are available.
"The share of renewables in gross final consumption of energy is one of the headline indicators of the Europe 2020 strategy. The target to be reached by 2020 for the EU is a share of 20% energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy. However, renewables will continue to play a key role in helping the EU meet its energy needs beyond 2020. For this reason, Member States have already agreed on a new EU renewable energy target of at least 27% by 2030," Eurostat says.
Since 2004, the share of renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy grew significantly in all member states. Compared with a year ago, it increased in 22 of the 28 member states in 2015.
In 2015, Sweden had by far the highest share of energy from renewable sources in its gross final consumption of energy, as much as 53.9%. It was followed by Finland (39.3%), Latvia (37.6%), Austria (33.0%) and Denmark (30.8%).
They were closely followed by Croatia, with a share of 29%. By comparison, the share of renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in Croatia was 27.9% in 2014 and 23.5% in 2004. Croatia had set itself a deadline of 2020 for the share of renewables in gross final consumption of energy to reach 20%.
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions of renewables were registered in Luxembourg and Malta (both 5.0%), the Netherlands (5.8%), Belgium (7.9%) and the United Kingdom (8.2%).
Of the 28 member states, 11 have already reached the level required to meet their national 2020 targets: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Sweden.
Each member state has its own Europe 2020 target, taking into account their different starting points, renewable energy potential and economic performance.
In 2015, Austria and Slovakia were about 1 percentage point from their 2020 targets. At the opposite end of the scale, the Netherlands (8.2 percentage points from reaching its national 2020 objective), France (7.8 pp), Ireland and the United Kingdom (both 6.8 pp) and Luxembourg (6.0 pp) were the furthest away from their targets.