Renewables are at the forefront of Europe鈥檚 response to the energy crisis

The crisis triggered by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine has accelerated renewable energy deployment in the European Union, driving the bloc to urgently reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas imports. Policy actions in many European countries has led us to revise our forecast for renewable capacity additions in the EU in 2023 and 2024 upwards by 40% compared with before the war. Rapid growth in distributed solar PV is the main reason for the more positive outlook, accounting for almost three-quarters of the EU forecast revisions. This is driven by high electricity prices that make solar PV more financially attractive and by increasing policy support in key EU markets, especially in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.