Being energy poor, for a household, means not being able to access the energy they need for essential services like heating and cooling. This has a serious impact on inhabitants’ health and wellbeing, especially in hot summers and cold winters. 

EU rural areas are particularly affected due to lower average incomes, coupled with homes that are generally bigger, older, and less energy efficient than buildings in cities, towns and suburbs. However, rural areas are ahead of urban areas and cities in carrying out energy efficiency improvements. They are particularly suited to installing renewable energy systems, thanks to more available land and the high share of buildings owned by their occupants. In rural areas, rooftop photovoltaics (solar panels) could potentially produce 2 200kWh per inhabitant, enough to cover more than a third of average household energy needs each year.  

A new report by the Joint Research Centre, Exploring rural energy poverty and needs, assesses the different challenges and opportunities related to energy for housing across the EU. The findings identify local specificities which can help design place-based (local) solutions that work best for citizens and their dwellings, while boosting decarbonisation and energy resilience. 

A better way to understand energy poverty 

Energy poverty is a complex problem, resulting from a combination of low energy efficiency in buildings, low disposable income and high expenditure on energy, but also driven by socio-economic factors. JRC researchers developed a method to better understand energy poverty across EU territories. This new index combines the share of household expenditure on energy with 4 indicators of energy poverty: 

1. The inability to keep a home warm enough,
2. The rate of people behind with paying their utility bills,
3. The share of households with a leaking roof, damp walls, floors or foundations, and rot in window frames or floors,
4. The at-risk-of-poverty rate (the share of households where disposable income is below 60% of the country average). 

The results show that rural areas experience higher levels of energy poverty, especially in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. In countries where energy poverty levels are well above the EU average, rural areas are usually the most impacted, while cities are always the least affected. Countries like Portugal, Croatia, Cyprus and Lithuania face similar situations, although more moderately. 

The combined analysis of building characteristics, climate conditions and the installation of rooftop photovoltaic panels at the local level also shows that meeting energy needs is more challenging in rural areas. This is mainly due to larger, less compact buildings, and to a greater need to keep dwellings warm (heating degree days) compared to other territories. This is most pronounced in Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Lithuania, due to the combination of extremely cold temperatures and old buildings. In Latvia and Lithuania, high rates of people at risk of poverty, also aggravate the situation. 

Renovations and renewables: opportunities for rural areas 

However, rural areas lead in energy efficiency improvements, with 29% of residents living in households that carried out work to boost energy performance between 2018 and 2023 as compared with 25% in towns or suburbs, and 23% in cities. These renovations include better thermal insulation, replacing single-glazed windows with double-or triple-glazed windows, and installing more efficient heating systems.  

Even more importantly, rural households are particularly suited to installing self-consumption renewable systems. The availability of large roof areas for photovoltaics, and high ownership share (78% of rural homes are owned by their occupants compared with 55% in cities) make solar panels an attractive option. Rooftop photovoltaic panels installed in rural areas could produce 2 200 kWh per inhabitant every year – roughly 37% of average household energy consumption. 

Background 

The problem of energy poverty is central to the EU’s efforts towards a just and fair energy transition. According to Eurostat, 48 million Europeans (10.6% of the EU population) were unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2023. At the same time, summer energy poverty is becoming an urgent issue due to climate change and regular heatwaves. In addition, energy use in buildings accounts for a substantial share of the EU’s total energy consumption and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (40% and 35% in 2021, respectively). 

Boosting energy efficiency is particularly important in rural areas, where larger, older and less compact buildings are common. The EU’s long-term vision for rural areas underlines the need to fund building renovation, boost local renewable energy production and reduce energy poverty in rural territories. The Rural Observatory is a key part of the long-term vision for rural areas, and provides detailed statistics and analyses on EU rural territories, covering economic, social and environmental aspects. The JRC report ‘Exploring rural energy poverty and needs’ was published as part of the observatory’s activities. These initiatives are supporting EU policies, for renovating buildings to improve their energy efficiency and allow them to produce some of their own energy which is a win-win for households and wider society.  

Related links

JRC report: Renewable energy production and potential in EU rural areas

Policy brief: Renewable energy in EU Rural Areas: production, potential and community engagement 

Demography 2040: cities keep growing, while population shrinks in remote rural regions 

Thematic analysis from the Rural Observatory