EU electricity market <br>Wind powered electricity generating capacity increased by over 150% in the EU25 since 2000

STAT/06/66

22 May 2006

EU electricity market
Wind powered electricity generating capacity increased by over 150% in the EU25 since 2000

The total electricity generating capacity in the EU25 amounted to almost 704 GW¹ in 2004, 6% more than in 2000. The installed capacity of wind turbines has increased by 154% since 2000. It is responsible for more than half of the new generating capacity, the other half being largely conventional thermal power stations.

These figures are published² by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Fossil fuel based generation dominates

Conventional thermal power stations – those that burn fossil fuels – dominate in the EU25, accounting for 58% of installed capacity in 2004. Nuclear power plants represented 19%, hydroelectric power plants 18%, and wind turbines, just under 5%. Germany (19%), the United Kingdom (16%) and Italy (14%) together had almost half of the conventional thermal generating capacity in the EU. France alone accounted for nearly half of the EU's nuclear capacity. France (20%), Italy (16%) and Spain (14%) together made up half of the hydropower generating capacity. Germany accounted for around half of the installed wind turbine capacity in the EU, Spain close to one quarter and Denmark to 10%.

Conventional thermal power stations accounted for the totality of the electricity generation in Cyprus and Malta, the near totality in Estonia and had a share of over 90% in the Netherlands and Poland. In Latvia and Austria the share of hydropower in total installed capacity was 71% and 63% respectively. Wind power was significant in Denmark (23% of total generation capacity), Germany (13%) and Spain (12%).

Cross-border trade in electricity

Electricity networks across the EU are interconnected to some extent, except Malta and Cyprus. However, cross-border trade in electricity is limited by the carrying capacity of the interconnections. The largest net exporters in 2004 were France (62 040 GWh) and the Czech Republic (15 717 GWh), while the largest net importers were Italy (45 635 GWh) and the Netherlands (16 217 GWh). Germany imported 48 187 GWh and exported 50 808 GWh.

Electricity market fully open in 10 Member States

By September 2005, ten EU Member States - Denmark, Germany, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom - had opened³ their electricity markets fully to competition. In most of the remaining countries, markets were open for business consumers.

Overall, there were more than 460 electricity generating companies in the EU25 in 2004. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovakia each had only one major electricity generating company, i.e. producing at least 5% of the country's electricity, while 4 countries - Germany, Austria, Poland and Finland - each had five major companies, and the United Kingdom had seven.

On the retail side, there were over 2900 retailers registered in the EU25 in 2004, of which 940 were in Germany. Four of these each supplied at least 5% of the total electricity in Germany, and thus are considered major. Similarly, France had 166 retailers, but only one that could be considered major. The Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Poland each had several hundred retailers, but in Italy only one had a market share of more than 5%, in Spain there were three major retailers, in Poland five, whereas the Czech Republic counted eight.

Installed electricity generating capacity, by type, in MW¹, 2004

Source: Eurostat.

* Other refers to Geothermal, solar, other non-specified.
¥ For Greece and Austria, Wind includes 'Other'
$ For Ireland, Luxembourg and Austria, Hydro excludes pumping stations

Electricity market structure and cross border trade in 2004

Source: Eurostat

1. 1 GW (Gigawatt) = 1 million kilowatts; 1 MW (Megawatt) = 1 000 kilowatts; 1 GWh = 1 million kWh; 1 MWh = 1 000 kWh.

2. Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Environment and Energy, 6/2006 "European electricity market indicators of the liberalisation process 2004-2005". The publication includes data for Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and Norway, and is available free of charge in PDF format on the Eurostat website.

1. Market opening is defined as the percentage of total electricity that is consumed by customers who can choose their electricity supplier.