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EU Coal Share in Power Generation Falls to Record Low in 2025

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Coal's share of electricity generation in the EU fell to a record low of 9.2% in 2025, extending a decades-long decline in the fuel's use for power production, Eurostat said Thursday.

Hard coal accounted for 3.7% of the EU's total gross electricity production in 2025, equivalent to 105,601 gigawatt-hours, while brown coal accounted for 5.5%, or 154,186 GWh.

The combined share of hard and brown coal fell below 10% for the first time in 2024 and declined further last year, Eurostat said.

Coal accounted for more than a third of EU electricity generation in 1990. Its share fell to 30.4% in 2000 and continued to decline, despite brief rebounds in 2011-2012 and 2021-2022.

The shift has also reshaped the EU's electricity mix. In 1990, hard coal and brown coal were the bloc's second- and third-largest sources of electricity, accounting for 19.8% and 15.3% of gross generation, respectively.

By 2025, they had fallen to seventh and sixth place. Both were overtaken by nuclear power in 1994, by natural gas in 2019, by hydropower and wind in 2023, and by solar power in 2024.

The decline in coal-fired power generation has coincided with record-low coal production and consumption in the EU. Consumption in 2025 was estimated at 107 million tonnes of hard coal and 184 million tonnes of brown coal, both of which were historical lows.

Several EU countries have also moved to phase out coal entirely or end its use in electricity and heat generation.

Portugal ended the use of hard coal for electricity generation in 2021, while Slovakia phased out brown coal production in 2024. Eight EU countries remain brown coal producers, according to Eurostat.

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