EU Power Mix in Transition: Wind and Solar Almost on Par with Nuclear and Coal from January to September 2026

Münster – The EU's power generation fleet continued its shift toward renewable energy in 2026. From January to September, wind and solar plants fed almost as much electricity into the EU grid as nuclear, lignite and hard coal plants combined.

The European power plant fleet is undergoing a continuing structural shift toward renewable energy. The main driver is unequal growth: feed-in from renewables is growing much faster than feed-in from conventional energy sources, which is rising only slightly overall. This is shown clearly by EU power feed-in data for January to September 2026.

Renewables Raise Feed-In by 6.6 Percent: EU Share Rises to 48.6 Percent

Overall, electricity feed-in from renewable energy in the EU rose by 6.6 percent to 877.1 billion kWh in January to September 2026 (same period last year: 822.8 billion kWh). Their share of total EU feed-in is now 48.6 percent, up from 47.3 percent a year earlier. Total EU feed-in increased by 3.7 percent to 1,804.5 billion kWh (same period last year: 1,739.9 billion kWh). This is an increase of 64.6 billion kWh, of which the bulk, 54.3 billion kWh (84.2 percent), came from renewables.

Wind and Solar Almost on Par with Nuclear, Lignite and Hard Coal

Feed-in from wind and solar plants in the EU rose by 11.9 percent to a combined 615.8 billion kWh from January to September 2026 (same period last year: 550.4 billion kWh). Feed-in from nuclear, lignite and hard coal totalled 619.9 billion kWh over the same period, a decline of 1.9 percent from the prior-year period (631.7 billion kWh). The gap between wind and solar on one side and nuclear, lignite and hard coal on the other has narrowed to just around 4 billion kWh (same period last year: around 81 billion kWh).

Solar feed-in rose by 17.8 percent to 281.8 billion kWh in the first nine months of 2026. It is now only 0.9 billion kWh below gas-fired feed-in (282.7 billion kWh); a year earlier, the difference was 23.5 billion kWh. Wind feed-in increased by 7.3 percent to 334.0 billion kWh.

The gains in wind and solar go hand in hand with the ongoing expansion. According to SolarPower Europe, solar plants with a capacity of 65.1 GW (direct current) were commissioned in the EU in 2025. WindEurope puts newly installed wind capacity in the EU in 2025 at 15.1 GW.

Conventional Feed-In Grows by 1.1 Percent: Gas Up 7.6 Percent

Conventional feed-in rose slightly by 1.1 percent to 927.4 billion kWh from January to September 2026 (same period last year: 917.2 billion kWh), reducing its share of total feed-in from 52.7 percent to 51.4 percent. Nuclear remains the largest conventional energy source at 437.3 billion kWh, with feed-in down 3.7 percent (same period last year: 454.0 billion kWh). Gas follows with an increase of 7.6 percent to 282.7 billion kWh. Lignite feed-in fell by 1.2 percent to 102.8 billion kWh, while hard coal rose by 8.3 percent to 79.8 billion kWh. Waste stands at 15.3 billion kWh and oil at 9.4 billion kWh.

About the Data from European Grid Operators (ENTSO-E)

The IWR analysis is based on EU country data reported by national transmission system operators to the ENTSO-E association (as of October 2, 2026). It covers net electricity feed-in into the power grids; volumes not fed in (self-consumption) are not included. Data on gross power generation in official annual statistics (e.g. Eurostat) may therefore differ.

Source: IWR Online, 02 Oct 2026