Solar photovoltaic panels accounted for 12% this summer. electricity consumed European Uniona record level that allowed the continent to avoid imports of 20 billion cubic meters. natural gas at a potential price of 29 billion euros, according to the report Amber Research Center which was released yesterday.

Photovoltaic power generation reached 99.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) between May and August, according to the energy think tank.

As he notes in his related report, 18 of the 27 EU member states set a record this summer for generating electricity by converting solar energy into electricity.

EU from May to August, he avoided the import of 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

In particular, the Netherlands produced 23% of the energy mix, Germany 19% and Spain 17%. France, by contrast, is below the EU average, with just 7.7% of the country’s electricity coming from photovoltaics this summer.

According to Amber, who extracted the data from European Network of Electricity Transmission System Operators (ENTSO), the strongest growth in electricity production in this way was recorded in Poland, where it increased by 26 times. They are followed by Finland and Hungary, which have also increased their solar energy production by five times.

Without this EU production, analysts have calculated that it would have to import an additional 20 billion cubic meters of gas worth 29 billion euros at prices fixed between May and August.

The increase in production from summer 2021 to summer 2022 (22 TWh) saved 4 billion cubic meters of gas in four months, worth more than 6 billion euros. Despite all this, and despite the fact that the production of photovoltaic systems is constantly accelerating, their development is still considered insufficient. Ember predicts that less than half of the photovoltaic installations needed to meet the energy and climate targets set by the EU will be installed on the Old Continent in the coming years. with a horizon of 2030.