According to the "European Power Review" released by energy research firm Ember, the EU's solar power generation reached a record 369 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025.

This figure represents an increase of 62 TWh compared to 2024 and more than doubles the 145 TWh recorded in 2020. Ember stated that solar power generation in the EU has grown at an average annual rate of 21% over the past five years, significantly outpacing all other energy sources.

Driven by the addition of 65.1 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in the EU last year, solar energy accounted for a record 13% of the bloc's electricity in 2025, surpassing both coal and hydropower. All EU countries saw year-on-year growth in solar power generation last year, with Hungary standing out as the leader—solar energy contributed 28% to its power mix. In Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and the Netherlands, the share of solar power in the electricity structure also exceeded 20%.

For the first time in history, the combined electricity generation from solar and wind power in the EU exceeded that from fossil fuels in 2025. Together, they accounted for a record 30% of the EU's electricity, higher than the 29% from fossil fuels. Among the 27 EU member states, 14 saw solar and wind power generation surpass the total output of all fossil fuels.

Beatrice Petrovich, the report's author, said: "This milestone demonstrates how rapidly the EU is moving towards an electricity system powered by wind and solar. As fossil fuel dependence exacerbates instability on the global stage, the urgency of transitioning to clean energy is clearer than ever before."

In 2025, 19 EU countries experienced at least one hour where solar and wind power combined to meet over 70% of the country's hourly electricity demand—compared to just 2 countries in 2020. Ember found that in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, solar and wind power together supplied more than half of the electricity in at least one-third of the hours throughout the year.

The Ember report also noted that total renewable energy generation in the EU—including solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, and other renewable sources—reached 1331 TWh in 2025, accounting for 47.7% of the total power mix, a slight decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. The report explained that the stable share was due to weather conditions that reduced wind and hydropower output while boosting solar generation.

Despite an 8% increase in gas-fired power generation compared to 2024, which pushed the EU's electricity sector's natural gas import bill to 32 billion euros, the share of coal-fired power dropped to a historic low of 9.2%. Currently, 19 EU countries have a coal-fired power share of less than 5%.

As solar and wind power become the backbone of Europe's electricity system, the Ember report emphasized that electricity storage, grid enhancement, and demand-side flexibility will be crucial to better utilize the growing supply of renewable electricity and replace imported fossil fuels.

The report put forward a series of recommendations, including: removing barriers to battery deployment in national legislation; promoting collaboration among EU member states on permits for key cross-border transmission lines; supporting investment in electrification technologies such as heat pumps; introducing electrification policies for transport, heating, and industry in the upcoming "Electrification Action Plan"; and advancing legislation to ban imports of Russian pipeline natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2027.