According to Eurostat, the share of renewables in the European Union's (EU) gross final energy consumption hiked to 17.5% in 2017, up from 17% in 2016, which is more than twice the 2004 share of 8.5%. Compared with the previous year, it increased in 19 of the 28 Member States.
Achieving a renewable energies share of 20% in gross final consumption of energy by 2020 and at least 32% by 2030 is one of the EU's key objectives. However, each EU member state has its own Europe 2020 national target, which takes into account their respective different starting point, economic performance and renewable energy potential. 11 countries have already achieved their 2020 objective, namely Bulgaria (18.7% vs. 16%), the Czech Republic (14.8% vs. 13%), Denmark (35.8% vs. 30%), Estonia (29.2% vs. 25%), Croatia (27.3% vs. 20%), Italy (18.3% vs. 17%), Lithuania (25.8% vs. 23%), Hungary (13.3% vs. 13%), Romania (24.5% vs. 24%), Finland (41% vs. 38%) and Sweden (54.5% vs. 49%).
Two states, i.e. Latvia and Austria, are about 1 percentage point from their 2020 targets, with 39% and 32.6%, respectively. In contrast, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Poland and Belgium are the furthest away from their respective targets.
Sweden had the largest share in 2017 as 54.5% of its gross final consumption of energy was sourced from renewables, ahead of Finland, Latvia, Denmark and Austria. Meanwhile, the lowest proportions of renewable energies were recorded in Luxembourg (6.4%), the Netherlands (6.6%) and Malta (7.2%).