Analysis: Coronavirus has cut CO2 from Europe’s electricity system by 39%
The coronavirus pandemic has seen entire countries locked down, with businesses, industry and travel all curtailed in an effort to limit the spread of Covid-19.
My analysis for Carbon Brief shows that electricity demand in Europe has fallen by 14% as a result of the crisis, with most major economies imposing widespread restrictions.
This has resulted in lower levels of coal and gas being burned to generate electricity, meaning CO2 emissions from the sector were 39% lower over the past 30 days than this time last year.
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Analysis of detailed electricity data for the 27 EU member states plus the UK, over the past 30 days, also shows that solar generation rose by 28% compared with the same period last year, due to new installations and a sunny April across Europe.
Combined with the fall in overall demand, this means many countries set new record-high shares for renewables in April, as well as record lows for fossil-fired electricity generation. Across the EU27 and UK combined, wind and solar reached a record-high 23% share over the past 30 days, offering valuable insights on the road to zero-carbon electricity systems.
The data from this unprecedented crisis shows that electricity systems can operate smoothly and reliably, even when variable renewables such as wind and solar meet higher shares of demand, which had not been expected until at least 2025.
But this “ postcard from the future ” of the electricity system also highlights a lack of flexibility , with many power plants unable to switch off in response to low or negative market prices. Electricity systems must become much more flexible to absorb higher levels of wind and solar in the future, including through “ responsive demand ” that can shift to when power is cheap.
Falling demand
In the face of rapidly spreading coronavirus epidemics, most European countries began to lock down their economies around a month ago, introducing strict controls on movement. This crisis has had major impacts on the electricity sector across Europe, shown in my analysis of data for the 30 days from 28 March to 26 April, compared with the same period last year.
The data shows electricity demand is down 15% in the UK and 13% in the EU-27 over the past 30 days, against the same period last year. This is shown in the chart, below, with Italy seeing the...
