The use of renewable energy sources in heating and cooling continues to increase in the EU, with the share of energy from renewables in those areas reaching 26.2% in 2023, the highest value since the time series started in 2004 (11.7%). The share increased by 1.2 percentage points (pp) compared with 2022 (25.0%). EU directive 2023/2413 of 18 October 2023 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources requires EU countries to increase their annual average share of renewables in heating and cooling by at least 0.8 pp from 2021 to 2025 and by at least 1.1 pp from 2026 to 2030.

In absolute terms, the gross final consumption of renewable energy for heating and cooling purposes in the EU has gradually increased over time, mostly due to the contribution of biomass and heat pumps. 

Among the EU countries, Sweden led the way again in 2023 when it came to renewables in heating and cooling, with a 67.1% share, followed by Estonia (66.7%). Both countries use mostly biomass and heat pumps. They were followed by Latvia (61.4%), which relies mainly on biomass.

In contrast, the lowest shares of renewable sources in heating and cooling were recorded in Ireland (7.9%), the Netherlands (10.2%) and Belgium (11.3%).

Source dataset: nrg_in_ren

Compared with 2022, 21 EU countries registered an increase in the shares of renewables used in heating and cooling. Austria (+8.1 pp), Malta (+7.5 pp) and Greece (+4.9 pp) recorded the largest increases between 2022 and 2023. 

On the other end of the scale, decreases were registered in Sweden (-2.7 pp), Poland (-2.2 pp), Slovakia (-1.1 pp), Croatia (-1.0 pp), Germany (-0.5 pp) and Luxembourg (-0.1 pp).