The EU saved €12B due to the rejection of Russian gas.
According to research by Ember Climate, a non-profit think tank, wind and solar power plants in the EU have produced a record amount of electricity since the start of the war in Ukraine. Specifically, from March 2022 to the end of January 2023, 10% more electricity from the sun and the wind was produced in the EU than during 2021-2022. As a result, these sources accounted for almost a quarter (23%) of all electricity in the EU, which is a new record figure. During this period an additional 50 TWh of electricity was produced, corresponding to the import of 90 TWh of gas worth €12B. Ember Climate’s calculations were based on average energy prices during the period. According to the think tank, natural gas imports by the EU decreased by 5%, and the share of Russian gas from March to January was 16%, while before the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, this figure reached 40%.