Saturday, 15 March 2025
The share of renewable energy used for heating and cooling in the European Union continued to rise in 2023, reaching 26.2%. This marks the highest level recorded since data collection began in 2004, when the share stood at 11.7%. Compared to 2022, when the figure was 25%, the share increased by 1.2 percentage points.
EU Directive 2023/2413, adopted on 18 October 2023, mandates that member states increase their annual average share of renewable energy in heating and cooling by at least 0.8 percentage points between 2021 and 2025. From 2026 to 2030, this requirement rises to at least 1.1 percentage points annually.
The overall growth in renewable energy for heating and cooling has been driven mainly by biomass and heat pumps. Among EU countries, Sweden recorded the highest share of renewable energy in heating and cooling in 2023 at 67.1%, followed closely by Estonia at 66.7%. Both countries rely primarily on biomass and heat pump technology. Latvia ranked third, with 61.4% of its heating and cooling energy coming from renewable sources, also primarily from biomass.
At the other end of the scale, Ireland had the lowest share of renewables in heating and cooling at 7.9%, followed by the Netherlands at 10.2% and Belgium at 11.3%.
Compared to the previous year, 21 EU countries saw an increase in the share of renewables used in heating and cooling. Austria recorded the largest rise, with an increase of 8.1 percentage points, followed by Malta at 7.5 percentage points and Greece at 4.9 percentage points.
However, several countries experienced a decline. Sweden saw the largest decrease, with its share falling by 2.7 percentage points. Poland followed with a decline of 2.2 percentage points, while Slovakia, Croatia, Germany, and Luxembourg also recorded slight reductions.
Source: EU
