Gavin Maguire
Even in the dead of winter, Europe’s solar farms have continued to expand their share of electricity production throughout the continent.
Utility-scale solar farms generated 68 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity during the first quarter of 2025, 32% more than during the same months in 2024 and the highest for the first quarter period on record, according to data from Ember.
Solar power production registered steep jumps across all major economies over January-March, with Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and France all posting solar output increases of over 25% from the same quarter last year.
Steady increases in installed capacity have been the chief drivers of output growth, and indicate that even larger solar output levels can be expected over the coming six months when solar radiation levels peak in Europe.
Expanding scale and share
Europe’s largest solar power producer, Germany, generated 11% of its total utility electricity supplies from solar power during the opening quarter of 2025, up from an 8% share in 2024.
The 12.5 TWh of electricity produced by Germany’s solar parks during January-March was 27% more than during the same period of 2024, and 73% greater than what was produced during the first quarter of 2020.
Looking forward, Germany’s solar farms could generate more than 25% of the country’s utility-supplied electricity during the next two quarters.
In 2024 a record 25% of Germany’s electricity came from solar during the July to September quarter, so the larger generation footprint in place in 2025 makes a 30% share target viable.
In Spain, the January-March solar output total was up only 10% from the year before, but solar’s share of the generation mix hit a new high for the quarter of 15%.
With the sun-drenched summer still ahead, other solar share goals are now in sight, including the 29% solar-share record set during the second quarter of 2024.
Growth markets
Further east, solar power’s penetration into electricity generation mixes is more limited, but is still bound to hit new records this year.
In Poland, where solar capacity jumped by 300% just between 2020 and 2023, solar power is on track to surpass 20% of total electricity supplies during the next two quarters.
Poland is Europe’s most coal-dependent economy, but the rapid growth in clean power supplies since 2020 has allowed Poland’s utilities to make cuts to fossil-fired generation while lifting total electricity generation.
Between 2020 and 2024, Poland’s solar output jumped by 677%, wind power has risen by nearly 60%, and total clean power supplies have climbed by 80%.
In response to that higher supply load, coal-fired electricity output has dropped by 15%, while total fossil fuel-fired production is down 7%.
Further increases in clean output, driven mainly by new solar farms, will allow for additional cuts to coal use, and further reductions to power pollution.
In the UK, solar power accounted for 4% of all utility-supplied electricity during the first quarter of 2025, but will likely generate more than 10% of total electricity during the next two quarters when daylight hours are longest.
Like in Poland, higher clean power output in the United Kingdom has allowed utilities there to cut back on fossil fuel use, and in the case of the UK stop coal-fired production altogether in 2024.
However, to ensure overall electricity supplies continue to rise in line with demand, more clean power generation capacity is widely expected, with solar power supplies growing faster than any other power source.
That sets the stage for further growth in solar capacity and generation throughout Europe, and a higher share of solar power within regional electricity mixes.
(The author is a market analyst for Reuters)
Published – April 03, 2025 09:19 pm IST
