This week, the Eurelectric premises pulsed as energy stakeholders gathered at Eurelectric HQ for the launch of Power Barometer 2025 – our annual flagship report and event exploring the state of Europe’s power system, and how it must evolve to stay in shape for the future.
From decarbonisation milestones to rising data centre demand, from flexible grids to falling fossil fuel use, and from surging prosumer connections to policy bottlenecks, the event took stock of the sector’s fitness – and its fragilities. Drawing on authoritative sources such as Eurostat, the European Commission and the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, the Power Barometer2025 centralises data that is otherwise scattered. Combined with Elda’s powerful datasets and our in-depth analysis, it offers a comprehensive picture of Europe’s energy transition.
In a packed room of policymakers, industry leaders and analysts, Eurelectric rang the alarm: if renewables are now the backbone of Europe’s power system, flexibility is the spine. And our spine is not strong enough.
Missed the event? Don’t worry – this week’s Friday Feature has you covered. Just make sure you’re in the room next time!
Opening charge: Clean power is rising, but so are the risks
Eurelectric Secretary General Kristian Ruby opened the event with a clear message: the energy transition is real – but its delivery hangs on flexibility.
The Power Barometer 2025 numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, clean electricity reached 72% of total EU generation, while fossil fuel use dropped to a historic low of 28%. Solar and hydro together added more than 80 TWh. Nuclear rose by 31 TWh. And for the first time ever, solar power overtook coal in the EU’s electricity mix.
This is an important milestone. But milestones alone don’t keep the lights on.
Electricity demand is finally picking up, rising 1% in 2024 and 2% year-on-year in the first half of 2025. Countries like Spain, Sweden and Finland are seeing early signs of industrial recover. While industrial output is rising carefully – another kind of demand is rising fiercely – one that’s harder to predict. As the Power Barometer 2025 shows, data centres could consume up to 287 TWh by 2030. That’s more than Spain’s total electricity use in 2024. But not only does their demand grow quickly – it’s also clustered, and energy-intensive. Without enough grid capacity or flexibility, they risk becoming pressure points for entire regions.
The power system is stressing itself, trying to stay in shape for the future. Batteries alone won’t be enough, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to make this work.
So far, that approach is missing. Solar and wind are expanding fast, but flexibility solutions are lagging. Battery storage reached just 5.4 GW in 2024 – a fraction of the 60 GW the EU needs by 2030. Other solutions like pumped hydropower, demand-side response, and electrolysers are growing slowly or not at all.
Prices fall – flexibility will be key
Amid the warnings about system stress, the Power Barometer 2025 also brought a welcome dose of good news: electricity is getting cheaper. Wholesale day-ahead prices have fallen sharply since the crisis peak, tumbling from €227/MWh in 2022 to €97/MWh in 2023, and settling at just €82/MWh in 2024 – the lowest level since before the energy crunch. For households and businesses that bore the brunt of the 2022 shock, this downward trend has provided real relief. Price spikes also became less frequent: hours above €150/MWh dropped to fewer than 7% last year (compared to 70% in 2022), signalling that extreme volatility is easing.
But cheaper power does not yet mean a stable system. Early 2025 showed how fragile the balance remains: weak winds sent prices back toward 2023 levels, only for an exceptionally sunny summer to drive them down again. Even more telling is the rise of negative prices, which appeared in 4.5% of all hours in 2024. This reflects a deeper mismatch – strong renewable output without enough flexible demand or storage to capture it.
Flex appeal: what the panel had to say
After our secretary general’s keynote, a panel of experts took the stage to debate the findings – and the road ahead. Speakers included:
- Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Deputy Director DG Ener EU Energy
- Eva Chamizo Llatas, Director of EU Affairs at Iberdrola
- Erkki MAILLARD, Senior VP at EDF Group
- Will Broad, Global Director for Policy and Markets, Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDES Council)
- Tsvetelina Penkova, Member of the European Parliament (S&D)
Several priorities emerged. First, storage and flexibility must be a priority. Variable generation cannot deliver reliability on its own. That means faster deployment of battery storage, but also a sharp policy focus on demand-side response (DSR) – which panelists identified as the fastest and most cost-effective flexibility lever for the next two years. Without these tools, growing clean capacity could end up adding volatility, not stability.
Second, the discussion turned to price disparities. Regional gaps in electricity prices are widening, and panelists warned that this risks undermining consumer trust and market cohesion. Addressing this will require stronger grid interconnections, a more integrated market, and smarter use of resources.
Finally, taxation came under scrutiny. To boost electrification and ease costs for consumers, panelists called for a shift in tax policy – one that removes distortions, rewards clean energy use, and enables electrification to scale.
Elda 2.0: Eurelectric’s data tool gets a glow-up
The event wrapped up with a final surprise. Senior Data Analyst Mohammed Abi Afthab Olikathodi revealed that Elda, Eurelectric’s interactive electricity data platform, gets a revamp.
Beyond a sleeker interface, the new Elda will soon feature:
- An AI chatbot for interactive user queries – from general to detailed
- An API for automated data downloads – perfect for data analysis and comparison
- And two new datasets including retail and capture prices
Explore the new platform here.
What’s next? Flexibility can’t wait
From €7 billion in TSO stability costs to grid congestion caused by prosumer surges, the Power Barometer 2025 paints a clear picture: Europe is racing ahead with clean generation – but the system needs a spine.
Demand is rebounding. Investment gaps in grids and storage persist. And electrification – currently at just 23% – must rise to 32% by 2030.
Policymakers now face a choice: bolster flexibility through tax reform and infrastructure upgrades – or risk a fragile system unable to keep pace with its own ambition.
This blog post was originally published as part of Eurelectric’s LinkedIn Friday Features. Subscribe here to stay updated and never miss an edition.
Disclaimer: This article is for communication purposes only and may not reflect Eurelectric positions. Any positions taken in this article shall not be attributable to Eurelectric’s official positioning. Official Eurelectric positions are reflected only in position papers published here.