
Breadcrumbs
Wind and solar growth save €12 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine revealed the high cost of relying on fossil fuel imports—but renewables growth helped avoid a worse crisis.
Highlights
50 TWh
Increase in wind and solar generation since the war began
€12 bn
Gas costs avoided through wind and solar growth
23%
Record share of EU generation from wind and solar
About
New analysis from Ember shows that wind and solar growth has saved the EU €12 billion in avoided gas costs since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Wind and solar growth cuts gas costs
Wind and solar stepped up to cut gas costs by €12 billion
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine revealed the high cost of relying on fossil fuel imports—but renewables growth helped avoid a worse crisis
Senior Analyst, Ember
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocked Europe into action. Suddenly, gaping vulnerabilities due to fossil fuel dependence became a stark reality. The last year has been a scramble to address these risks through an accelerated transition to a cleaner, more secure power system. At the year marker of Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine, it remains critical that the EU rapidly expands solar and wind to attain permanent energy independence.

Supporting Material
Methodology
Data
The EU electricity generation and fossil gas price data applied is for the period of 1 March 2022 to 31 January 2023, due to the current unavailability of generation data for February 2023.
Fossil gas price applied is the average Dutch Title Transfer Facility Day Ahead price for the relevant time period (€123 / MWh).
EU gas import data is from Bruegel
Conversions and calculations
1 Net Calorific Value = 0.9 Gross Calorific Value
Calorific value of gas = 37.83 MJ/m3
1 billion cubic metres = 10.51 Terawatt hours
Fossil gas plant efficiency rate = 55% (Lower Heating Value)
Fossil gas emissions intensity = 370g CO2eq/kWh
Fossil gas generation cost calculations include gas costs and CO2 costs but exclude any operational costs.
Acknowledgements
Woman riding electric bike by a wind farm on the Schwaebische Alb; Umomos