Renewable

SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 12 (SeeNews) - Croatia's share of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption reached 28.5% in 2019, exceeding by 8.5 percentage points (pp) the country's national 2020 binding target, the bloc's statistical office said. 

Croatia was one of 14 EU member states which have surpassed their national 2020 binding targets in 2019. The list also includes Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, Eurostat's preliminary data for 2019 showed last week.

In 2019, renewable energy represented 21.5% of energy consumed in Bulgaria - 5.6 pp above the country's 2020 target. Greece had a share of 19.7% in 2019, higher than the 2020 target of 18%.

Elsewhere in Southeast Europe (SEE), Romania surpassed its 2020 objective by just 0.3pp, at 24.3%.

At the opposite end of the scale, Slovenia is the furthest away from its target among all EU member states in SEE. Renewables had a 21.7% share in Slovenia's 2019 gross final energy consumption, 3.3 pp below its 2020 target. 

In 2019, the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption reached 18.9% in EU-28.

The increase in the share of renewables is essential to reach the EU climate and energy goals. The EU targets 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020 and at least 32% by 2030.