site.btaBulgaria Records 1.9-Percentage-Point Drop in Renewable Energy Use for Heating and Cooling in 2024

Bulgaria is among the European Union (EU) member states that recorded the sharpest decline in the share of renewable energy sources used for heating and cooling in 2024, with a year-on-year decrease of 1.9 percentage points, according to the latest data released by Eurostat on Monday.

At EU level, the use of renewable energy sources for heating and cooling continued to rise, with their share reaching 26.7% in 2024, which is the highest level since the start of comparable statistics in 2004, when the indicator stood at 11.7%. Compared with 2023, the share increased by 0.5 percentage points, remaining below the average annual increase of 0.75 percentage points recorded over the 2004–2024 period.

In absolute terms, the gross final consumption of renewable energy for heating and cooling purposes in the EU has gradually increased over time, mostly due to the contribution of biomass and heat pumps. 

The EU Directive 2023/2413 of October 18, 2023 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources requires each EU country to increase its annual average share of renewables in heating and cooling by at least 0.8 percentage points from 2021 to 2025 and by at least 1.1 percentage points from 2026 to 2030. At EU level, the annual average increased by 0.93 percentage points from 2021 to 2024. 

Among the EU countries in 2024, Sweden had the highest share of renewables in heating and cooling (67.8%), followed by Finland (62.6%) and Latvia (61.8%). By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (7.9%), the Netherlands and Belgium (both 11.3%).

Compared with 2023, 16 EU member states reported an increase in the share of renewable energy used for heating and cooling in 2024. The largest rise was seen in Malta, up by 6.0 percentage points, followed by Luxembourg (+3.7 percentage points) and Denmark (+1.9 percentage points).

The steepest decline was recorded in Estonia, down by 11.1 percentage points, followed by Greece (-2.9 percentage points) and Bulgaria (-1.9 percentage points).