Charted: How Europe Generates Its Electricity
Key Takeaways
- Iceland is the only European country that does not use fossil fuels to produce electricity.
- A record 67% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power, the highest share worldwide.
- Cyprus, Malta, and Poland all generate more than 65% of their electricity from fossil fuels.
Europe’s electricity grid has come under strain in recent years due to heatwaves and supply chain disruptions. Countries across the continent rely on vastly different energy sources to power their economies.
This visualization shows the energy sources used to produce electricity across Europe, using the most recent available data (2024) from Eurostat and DUKES.
Fossil Fuel Dependence in Europe
Hydrocarbons still make up a large portion of Europe’s electricity mix. On average, nearly 30% of electricity across the continent is sourced from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
This share is highest in the two small Mediterranean island countries of Malta (84.6%) and Cyprus (76.3%). However, industrial economies such as Germany (41.4%), Poland (68.9%), and the Netherlands (45.1%) also rely substantially on fossil fuels.
The table below lists European countries based on the percentage of their electricity sourced from fossil fuels versus non-fossil sources.
| Country | Electricity from Fossil Fuels | Electricity from Other Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | 84.6% | 15.4% |
| Cyprus | 76.3% | 23.7% |
| Poland | 68.9% | 31.1% |
| Ireland | 52.5% | 47.5% |
| Greece | 51.7% | 48.3% |
| Italy | 49.0% | 51.0% |
| Netherlands | 45.1% | 54.9% |
| Czechia | 42.0% | 58.0% |
| Estonia | 42.0% | 58.0% |
| Germany | 41.4% | 58.6% |
| Romania | 33.4% | 66.6% |
| UK | 32.3% | 67.7% |
| Bulgaria | 29.1% | 70.9% |
| Croatia | 26.8% | 73.2% |
| Latvia | 26.6% | 73.4% |
| Hungary | 25.4% | 74.6% |
| Slovenia | 23.9% | 76.1% |
| Spain | 23.1% | 76.9% |
| Belgium | 21.8% | 78.2% |
| Portugal | 14.3% | 85.7% |
| Slovakia | 14.0% | 86.0% |
| Lithuania | 13.1% | 86.9% |
| Austria | 13.0% | 87.0% |
| Denmark | 8.2% | 91.8% |
| France | 4.6% | 95.4% |
| Luxembourg | 4.3% | 95.7% |
| Finland | 3.8% | 96.2% |
| Norway | 1.0% | 99.0% |
| Sweden | 0.5% | 99.5% |
| Iceland | 0.0% | 100.0% |
Some European countries, such as Norway, are endowed with sizable oil deposits. However, much of Europe remains dependent on foreign oil and gas imports from countries such as Algeria, Russia, and Qatar. As a result, European electricity prices are among the highest worldwide.
This dependence can also have geopolitical implications. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, efforts to reduce reliance on Russian gas contributed to economic and industrial pressures in Germany.
The Cleanest Energy Grids in Europe
Norway may sit atop sizable oil deposits, yet it has one of the cleanest energy grids in Europe. A striking 88.6% of Norwegian electricity is produced from hydropower.
Nordic neighbors such as Finland and Sweden have also largely eliminated fossil fuels from their electricity grids.
| Country | Wind | Hydro | Solar | Biofuels | Sum* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 9.5% | 88.6% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 98.4% |
| Luxembourg | 31.0% | 7.0% | 23.9% | 26.5% | 88.4% |
| Denmark | 58.2% | 0.1% | 10.7% | 17.9% | 86.9% |
| Austria | 11.8% | 58.0% | 10.3% | 5.5% | 85.6% |
| Portugal | 30.4% | 31.4% | 15.0% | 7.2% | 84.0% |
| Lithuania | 45.9% | 5.8% | 18.6% | 9.7% | 80.0% |
| Latvia | 4.4% | 50.8% | 8.5% | 9.8% | 73.5% |
| Croatia | 16.9% | 44.2% | 5.4% | 6.6% | 73.1% |
| Iceland** | 0.1% | 69.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 69.5% |
| Sweden | 23.6% | 37.5% | 2.4% | 5.2% | 68.7% |
| Spain | 22.1% | 12.2% | 20.7% | 1.9% | 56.9% |
| Germany | 27.4% | 4.7% | 14.9% | 9.0% | 56.0% |
| Estonia | 18.3% | 0.5% | 16.7% | 20.1% | 55.6% |
| Finland | 25.3% | 17.2% | 1.1% | 12.0% | 55.6% |
| UK | 29.6% | 2.0% | 5.3% | 14.2% | 51.1% |
| Netherlands | 27.1% | 0.1% | 17.6% | 3.9% | 48.7% |
| Greece | 21.1% | 6.2% | 19.6% | 1.2% | 48.1% |
| Italy | 8.3% | 19.7% | 13.4% | 5.6% | 47.0% |
| Romania | 12.0% | 26.7% | 6.5% | 0.9% | 46.1% |
| Ireland | 37.4% | 2.5% | 3.5% | 2.1% | 45.5% |
| Slovenia | 0.0% | 31.9% | 7.6% | 1.6% | 41.1% |
| Belgium | 18.2% | 0.7% | 11.3% | 3.4% | 33.6% |
| Hungary | 1.7% | 0.6% | 24.2% | 4.6% | 31.1% |
| Poland | 14.6% | 1.2% | 10.3% | 4.5% | 30.6% |
| Bulgaria | 3.6% | 7.3% | 14.3% | 4.5% | 29.7% |
| France | 8.4% | 12.6% | 4.4% | 1.6% | 27.0% |
| Slovakia | 0.0% | 16.3% | 2.3% | 5.2% | 23.8% |
| Cyprus | 3.5% | 0.0% | 19.2% | 1.0% | 23.7% |
| Czechia | 1.0% | 3.6% | 4.9% | 7.2% | 16.7% |
| Malta | 0.0% | 0.0% | 14.9% | 0.4% | 15.3% |
*Sum of the top four renewable categories (solar, wind, hydro, biofuel). Other types like geothermal or tidal not broken down by source.
**Iceland’s total renewable use is 100%, when other missing sources are included.
Iceland is a unique case. The country relies on hydropower for 69.4% of its electricity, with the remainder coming from other clean sources such as geothermal energy. It remains the only European country with no fossil fuels in its electricity mix.
The Nuclear Option
Some European countries looking to move away from coal or gas have turned to another option: nuclear energy.
France, Europe’s third-largest economy, relies on nuclear power for roughly 67% of its electricity, more than any other country worldwide. The country began investing heavily in nuclear power following the 1973 oil crisis.
To a lesser extent, other European Union member countries such as Slovakia (62%) and Hungary (42%) also rely on nuclear energy for a large share of their electricity production.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To compare how diesel factors into these countries’ energy consumption, check out Ranked: Countries That Use the Most Diesel Per Capita on Voronoi.