The energy transition continues to advance both in the European Union and globally, with renewable energy steadily gaining ground over fossil fuels, albeit at different speeds and with distinct characteristics in each context.
In the EU, the supply of renewable energy increased by 1.4% in 2025 compared with the previous year, reaching 11.5 million terajoules (TJ), according to preliminary data released by Eurostat on Monday. Coal use continued to fall to its lowest levels since records began in 1990: lignite declined by 7.7% to 184.741 million tonnes, while hard coal fell by 3.2% to 107.072 million tonnes. Petroleum products also decreased by 2.8% to 448.656 million tonnes. Nuclear energy posted a modest 0.2% increase to 650,648 gigawatt-hours (GWh), while natural gas consumption rose 2.3% for the second consecutive year following the sharp decline recorded in 2023, reaching approximately 13.1 million TJ.
Globally, the trend is even more pronounced. Additions of installed renewable energy capacity reached a record 800 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, with solar power accounting for 75% of the total, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). For the first time, a modern renewable technology—solar photovoltaics (PV)—accounted for more than a quarter of global growth in primary energy demand. Low-emission energy sources, including renewables and nuclear, contributed nearly 60% of the increase in global energy demand, while electricity generation from fossil fuels declined slightly.
The IEA noted that this trend is structural rather than cyclical. Global economic growth in 2025 remained at normal levels, suggesting that the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy in electricity generation is now a long-term transformation rather than a consequence of slower economic activity.
Coal nevertheless remains the world’s single largest source of electricity generation, while fossil fuels still account for more than half of global electricity production, highlighting that despite the rapid pace of the energy transition, the world’s long-standing dependence on fossil fuels cannot be reversed within a single generation.
Source: Mercado
