This year again, Eurelectric’s Power Barometer tracks the evolution of Europe’s electricity system, this time through the lens of one decisive factor: power system flexibility.
Our findings confirm that the power sector continues to lead the decarbonisation race, with clean power generating 72% of EU electricity year-to-date, and fossil fuels falling to record lows.
Crucially, the EU industrial sector is showing some very first signs of recovery. While energy-intensive industries in Germany and Italy remain fragile, industrial output in Spain, Sweden, and Finland is starting to rebound. Data centres are also driving new and concentrated demand across the continent.
The Power Barometer 2025 also shows that Europe’s electrification remains too slow: even with a 1% increase in electrification last year, this stubborn reality persists. On top of that, the power system faces growing challenges from intermittent renewable generation and the phase-out of plants that traditionally provided ancillary services.
In this context, power system flexibility, coupled with stronger demand signals, is key to achieve Europe’s goals of decarbonisation, energy security and affordability.
So let’s get on, let’s get flexible. Let’s get fit for the future.
The journey of the European power system over the past five years has been nothing short of a roller coaster. From the supply chain disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic to the energy security crisis triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the sector has faced turbulence unlike anything seen before. And yet, Europe remains firmly committed to its path toward climate neutrality. Today, the power sector stands at a turning point, and with Denmark holding the EU Presidency in the second half of 2025, energy policy is high on the agenda.
Despite the turbulence of recent years, Europe’s electricity system continues to decarbonise at record speed. Overall, EU electricity generation went from 2.693TWh in 2023 to 2.732TWh in 2024.
Fossil fuel generation dropped by 89 TWh, cutting the fossil share of the mix to a historic low of 28%.
At the same time, clean power surged at an all-time high of 72%, driven by record solar PV installations, improved hydropower conditions, and stable nuclear output. Solar and hydro together added more than 80 TWh compared to 2023, while nuclear rose by 31 TWh, remaining the EU’s largest single power source.
Accordingly, for the first time ever, solar PV overtook coal in its share of the EU’s electricity mix – a symbolic milestone in Europe’s clean energy transition. Even with weaker-than-usual winds, wind generation saw a modest gain of 7 TWh.
Source: Elda Eurelectric.
These strong results are no coincidence. They reflect Europe’s rapid build-out of renewable energy capacity over the past two years. More than 120 GW of solar PV have been installed, supported by decreasing technology costs and a favourable policy. At the same time, improved permitting brought over 30 GW of wind power – both onshore and offshore – online.
And the trend will continue. By 2030, the European Commission projects EU generation capacity to grow by 37%, with renewables accounting for most of the new additions. Conventional power plants will remain in the system, mainly as back-up capacity and for frequency control, while storage and flexibility resources will take centre stage.
The Power Barometer data allows for a simple statement: clean power is now the backbone of Europe’s generation mix. But a backbone needs a spine, and variable renewable energy (VRE) like solar and wind, need power system flexibility, storage, and proper grid integration.
Sources: Elda Eurelectric, 2040 impact assessment of the European Commission, Wind Europe, Solar Power Europe, IRENA.
While traditional demand is only slowly recovering, a new source of electricity consumption is expanding at breakneck speed: data centres.
As our chart shows, forecasts from the European Commission, McKinsey, ICIS and others project electricity demand from data centres in the EU and the UK to surge from around 100 TWh in 2022 to between 149 TWh and 287 TWh by 2030. And to put things in context: 287 TWh equals Spain’s entire electricity consumption in 2024.
But just as industrial demand recovers unevenly, data centre growth is also unbalanced. In countries where clusters are emerging, concentrated demand could strain local grids.
Moreover, accommodating this clustered demand will require accelerated deployment of renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar power, combined with battery energy storage and both demand- and supply-side flexibility resources. Indeed, without stronger system transformation, rising IT demand could amplify residual load volatility and put pressure on transmission and distribution system operators.
Source: Elda Eurelectric.
After years of declining demand for European industries, the continent shows encouraging signs of revival.
Looking at industrial output, the EU average production is showing its first signs of growth, driven by countries like Spain, Sweden, and Finland which all demonstrate gradual recovery. On the contrary, industrial output seems to remain sluggish in economies like Germany and Italy, where economic pressures continue to weigh on output.
Source: Eurostat.
While traditional demand is only slowly recovering, a new source of electricity consumption is expanding at breakneck speed: data centres.
As our chart shows, forecasts from the European Commission, McKinsey, ICIS and others project electricity demand from data centres in the EU and the UK to surge from around 100 TWh in 2022 to between 149 TWh and 287 TWh by 2030. To put things in context: 287 TWh equals Spain’s entire electricity consumption in 2024.
But just as industrial demand recovers unevenly, data centres growth is also unbalanced. In countries where clusters are emerging, concentrated demand could strain local grids.
Moreover, accommodating this clustered demand will require accelerated deployment of renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar power, combined with battery energy storage and both demand- and supply-side flexibility resources. Indeed, without stronger system transformation, rising IT demand could amplify residual load volatility and put pressure on transmission and distribution system;
Sources: JRC, ICIS, EC, McKinsey, Beyond Fossil Fuels, Goldman Sachs.
Wholesale day-ahead electricity prices have fallen sharply since the crisis peak of 2022. The EU average dropped from €227/MWh in 2022 to €97/MWh in 2023, and then to €82/MWh in 2024. This decline was driven by lower gas prices and higher availability of clean electricity.
However, at the beginning of 2025, below-average wind generation impacted prices negatively, with quarterly averages rising close to 2023 levels. But, a sunny summer helped bring prices down thanks to high solar power generation.
Sources: Elda Eurelectric, investing.com.
Another positive point: in 2024, price spikes became less frequent: on average across the EU, electricity prices exceeded 150€/MWh during fewer than 7% of hours.
Source: Elda Eurelectric.
Fewer spikes overall do not translate into equal relief across Europe. The distribution of price spikes shows a deeply uneven picture across the continent: countries in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, as well as Ireland, faced the most frequent high-price events, reflecting fossil-heavy power generation mixes and weaker grid interconnections.
Germany also saw volatility. Its high share of VREs was often constrained by grid bottlenecks, turning abundance into instability. During Dunkelflaute days in November and December, evening peaks surged above €900/MWh. Blackouts were avoided thanks to the European single market, but stronger grids, storage, and flexibility are essential to prevent such spikes.
By contrast, Nordic hydropower, Spanish solar, and French nuclear helped contain price surges in these countries.
Source: Elda Eurelectric.
While price spikes are on average more contained – negative prices became more common across Europe, occurring on average 4.5% of the time in 2024. Behind this trend: strong solar output, weak demand and limited storage and flexibility to capture excess power.
In conclusion, we can see that the frequency of price spikes and negative prices provide key signals of whether flexibility resources are sufficient to stabilise markets (especially during periods of high residual load and tight system conditions). This divergence underscores that power system flexibility is not just a technical requirement but also a matter of fairness and energy security.
As we will see below, stronger distribution and transmission grid investments will be needed, together with coordinated market design and expanded flexibility services. Otherwise, regional disparities will persist, and risk undermining consumer confidence in the energy transition.
Source: Elda Eurelectric.
The Iberian blackout of 2024 underscored a central lesson: the question is not whether renewables caused the outage, but whether the system had enough flexible capacity – including battery energy storage systems – and ancillary services available to cope with the stress.
On that matter, TSO spend on ancillary services nearly quadrupled in the past 5 years, reaching more than €7bn today.
Source: LCP Delta.
One of the answers to the flexibility challenge lies in storage – and especially in the scaling up of batteries. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are growing fast; installed capacity in the EU jumped by more than 50% in 2024, reaching 5.4 GW of operation utility-scale batteries. However, the gap is still consequential: our projections show that the EU needs at least 60 GW of BESS by 2030 to reach sufficient storage capacity. Today’s capacity is only a fraction of that, meaning the race to deploy flexibility and energy storage must accelerate drastically.
Sources: JRC, Wood Mackenzie, LCP Delta.
As seen previously, fossil fuel capacity continued to shrink as their role is being reduced while the EU transitions to a carbon-neutral society. However, today, conventional power plants still provide important short-term system control.
Solar and wind capacity, on the other hand, expanded strongly in 2024, while nuclear and hydropower remained stable.
By contrast, flexibility resources like batteries, pumped storage hydro, demand-side response and electrolysers rose only marginally, while they should all be growing and adding up. Indeed, and according to Eurelectric and the IEA (2023), long-term duration storage will be key to complement batteries, reduce residual load, and provide flexibility services during extended periods of low wind and solar output.
Source: Elda Eurelectric, ENTSO-E, IRENA.
The number of connected prosumers (that is, residential customers generating their own electricity) nearly tripled between 2021 and 2024, reaching almost 7 million, while requests to connect utility-scale renewable installations rose to nearly half a million in 2024. This rapid growth is testing grid capacity and highlights once again the need for smart grids to fully harness prosumers’ potential in providing system flexibility.
Sources: Eurelectric, National Associations, DSOs. Data represents 60% of EU electricity consumption
Modernising and digitalising grids has a price. Grids spending, although rising steadily, requires an additional €24 billion of annual investment (or €12 billion if anticipatory strategies are taken into account) to meet the European 2050 decarbonisation targets.
This investment gap is a major barrier to power system flexibility. Without modernised grids, the EU cannot integrate rising shares of solar, wind, prosumers, and flexible resources. Anticipatory investments and better asset management are essential to close the gap and deliver a resilient electricity system.
The conclusion from this data is clear as we must urgently expand storage, unlock demand-side flexibility, and invest in smarter, stronger grids to secure the clean energy transition.
Europe must also electrify everything that can be electrified.
Sources: IEA, Eurelectric Grids4Speed study.
The Clean Industrial Deal sets a clear target: increase EU’s economy-wide electrification rate from around 23% today to 32% by 2030. Yet progress remains slow. Sales of electric vehicles and heat pumps are rising, but electricity use in transport and heating is still far below target levels. Taxation that penalises electricity, the upfront cost of efficient electric technologies, and red tape are delaying the shift.
Sources: Elda Eurelectric, Clean Industrial Deal communication, EC's 2040 targets impact assessment, Eurostat.
Sources: EHPA. Data until 2024 are for EU12 + UK + NO. 2030 is for EU27.
Electrification is not just about higher demand – it is about managing demand smartly. A flexible, digitalised system can turn EVs into key providers of power system flexibility, helping to balance variable renewable energy (VRE) while cutting emissions.
Source: EAFO, EC's 2040 targets impact assessment, IEA Global EV outlook.
The Power Barometer 2025 confirms it: Europe’s power sector is delivering on decarbonisation. But it also warns — the system is under mounting stress. Renewables are surging. Flexibility is not.
Storage deployment, grid investment, and electrification policies all lag behind what is needed for a net-zero economy. With Denmark at the helm of the EU Presidency in 2025, policymakers have a unique chance to push flexibility to the top of the agenda. The choices made this year will decide if Europe can build a resilient, affordable, and decarbonised electricity system fit for the future.
Today, the race is not just about clean generation. It is about building a power system flexible enough to handle it.
On the demand side, Eurelectric calls on policymakers to accelerate electrification across all sectors -transport, heating, and industry. Delivering on the Electrification Action Plan, accelerating fleet conversion, and scaling up industrial electrification are essential to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and boost the electrification of society.
On the supply side, we must continue to decarbonise. This entails driving investment in grids to deliver clean power, and in storage and flexibility solutions to balance the system.
Only then can Europe secure a reliable, affordable, and decarbonised power system for all consumers.