If Europe produced more renewable energy in 2023 than in 2022, this is mainly explained by episodes of floods, storms and “abnormal” sunshine, according to the Copernicus observatory.
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/04/22/000-34m28fy-66263b7186074755461281.jpg)
In 2023, 43% of electricity produced in Europe came from renewable energy sources, according to the European climate monitoring service Copernicus, which publishes its new annual report on Monday April 22. A share increasing compared to 2022, where it was 36%. However, this reveals climatic anomalies, according to Copernicus.
First of all, the demand for energy has been stronger, the scientists explain, whether for “cool”during the “exceptional summer temperatures” on the continent, or for “warm up” during temperatures “colder than usual”, in Scandinavia in particular.
“Above average precipitation”
More specifically, Copernicus details in its report that certain events have increased the production of renewable energy. Energy production “run-of-river hydroelectric”in other words the dams, was “above average in most of Europe” in 2023, we can read in the report. This is explained by “above-average precipitation and river flow.”
Regarding precipitation, the monitoring service highlights that during the year 2023, Europe was “7% wetter than normal”, notably in Greece, Germany, and even Denmark. In France, Pas-de-Calais experienced an intense episode of flooding last November. Italy was also the victim of torrential rains in May 2023, causing around fifteen deaths in the Emilia-Romagna region.
“Increased activity” of storms
The European Copernicus service also notes the exceptional recurrence of storms on the continent, giving rise to “with above-average wind energy production potential”. A “increased activity from October to December”specify the experts, which left 65 dead and affected 550,000 people.
They cite in particular Turkey, victim of storm Daniel in September, which left six dead. In France, storms Ciaran and Domingos hit Brittany and the Atlantic coast successively in November, leaving three dead and around fifty injured.
The “abnormal sunny weather” in 2023
Solar electricity, produced from photovoltaic panels, has also increased, mainly in southern and southwest Europe. A phenomenon which can be explained by an unusual period of sunshine, according to Copernicus, and in particular in the month of September when it was the most “unnatural”.
A phenomenon which led to another: the month of September in France has never been as hot as last year, with an average of 21.5°C, or between 3.5°C and 3. 6°C above average. Generally speaking, the year 2023 was the year of all climate records according to Copernicus, which alerts to the fact that Europe is the continent “which heats up the fastest” with increasing temperatures “around twice as fast as the global average”.