In the report on energy production and consumption for 2023 published by Ember recently, many striking reports from Europe and around the world were shared with the public.
Among European countries, the country that “generates the most electricity from coal” was Germany with 121 TWh. Turkey, on the other hand, surpassed Poland in 2023 with 118 TWh and became the second country “generating the most electricity from coal”. Considering the past data and the investments made by the countries, Turkey is expected to overtake Germany to become the country with the highest coal-fired electricity in 2025-2026.
In 2023, the most striking statistics on solar energy production in Europe belonged to Poland. As a result of the incentives and policies pursued by the Polish government, Poland increased its total installed solar energy capacity by 141% between 2013 and 2023. As a result of the policies implemented, Poland’s solar energy production increased by 40.4% from 8.3 TWh in 2022 to 11.7 TWh in 2023. In the period between 2013 and 2023, Turkey was the country that increased its solar power generation capacity in Europe after Poland with a capacity increase of 89.7%. Hungary followed Turkey with a 66.8% increase. In terms of production capacity, Germany is the largest solar energy producer in Europe with 61 TWh.
Globally, China has by far the largest installed solar capacity in the world with 609,291 MW of installed solar capacity. In fact, it is more than twice the installed solar energy capacity in the whole of Europe. The total installed solar capacity in the whole of Europe is 299,200 MW. China’s investments in renewable energy sources and the fact that it is one of the world’s most important companies in panel production play an important role in the formation of these figures.
In terms of wind power generation in Europe, Germany ranked first with 142 TWh, Spain second with 64 TWh and France third with 52 TWh. Wind energy investments, which accelerated especially after the Russia-Ukraine war, have gradually increased with the support and incentives provided by governments. In 2023, there was a 22.8% capacity increase in the Netherlands, 22.5% in Finland and 14.2% in Poland compared to 2022. Between 2013 and 2023, installed capacity increased by 31.6% in Finland, 20% in Norway and 17.1% in Ukraine. Due to the impact of the war, there was no capacity increase in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023.
Globally, China has become the country with the highest wind energy production with 885 TWh of wind energy production in 2023, just like solar energy. The United States ranked second with 429 TWh of wind power generation in 2023. The United States and China also stand out as the two most important countries in the world in terms of installed capacity. China has the world’s largest wind power capacity with 441,895 MW installed capacity. China is followed by the United States with 148,020 MW. In Europe, Germany ranks first with an installed capacity of 69,459 MW as of the end of 2023. The “largest increase in installed capacity” in Europe compared to the previous year was experienced in the Netherlands with 22.8%. The Netherlands reached an installed capacity of 10,749 MW by the end of 2023. Especially as a result of Europe’s wind energy investments, European companies and energy traders in the energy trading sector have increased their electricity purchases and sales on renewable energy. The efficiency of renewable energy sources in the field of energy trade has gradually increased with the effect of digitalization and the gradual development of algorithms of energy monitoring and energy forecasting software.
The largest hydroelectric power generation in Europe was in Norway, as in previous years. In Norway, 136 TWh of hydroelectric energy was generated with an increase of 6.6% compared to the previous year. Norway was followed by Sweden with 66 TWh and Turkey with 63.9 TWh. A total of 638 TWh of hydroelectric energy was generated across Europe in 2023.
The largest hydroelectric power generation in Europe was in Norway, as in previous years. In Norway, 136 TWh of hydroelectric energy was generated with an increase of 6.6% compared to the previous year. Norway was followed by Sweden with 66 TWh and Turkey with 63.9 TWh. A total of 638 TWh of hydroelectric energy was generated across Europe in 2023.
All these figures show that the importance of renewable energy investments is increasing worldwide and the role of renewable energy in total energy production is gaining great importance. China, in particular, is reaping the rewards of its renewable energy investments in recent years and has the world’s largest installed capacity in wind, solar and hydroelectricity. In Europe, increases in the total installed solar capacity of Poland and Greece have attracted attention. As a result of the renewable energy installation incentives provided by governments all over the world and the energy efficiency brought by the increasing digitalization software in energy, the share of renewable energy in total energy production worldwide will gradually increase in the coming years.