Europe’s energy transition risks falling behind, as grid saturation, supply chain bottlenecks and permitting delays, threaten to undermine progress toward 2030 climate targets.
That’s the clear view of a new report from the Energy Industries Council (EIC).
The Europe OPEX Insight Report reveals that 230 new energy assets were commissioned in 2024, with more than half coming from renewable sources.
However, while deployment is accelerating, structural challenges are slowing the pace of development—especially in offshore wind, solar and hydrogen.
Offshore wind now contributes 49 GW of capacity, or 30% of total wind output in the region, but growth is being hindered by a lack of suitable ports and heavy-lift equipment.
“There are specific bottlenecks in some industries that will take a long time to remove, like ports in Scotland or in the UK for offshore wind,” said EIC Energy Analyst Luiza Marcolongo, pointing to the delayed Sofia Offshore Wind Farm as an example.
Solar energy has seen capacity double since 2020 to 46 GW, led by Spain after recent policy reforms.
Germany’s Witnitz Solar Park and Greece’s Faethon Solar Farm were key contributors. Yet, the report warns that “the pace of permitting and the condition of the grid are defining the ceiling on how fast we can decarbonise.”
Battery storage is expanding, with 83 new projects since 2020. However, integration remains difficult. “Storage helps, but without a coherent grid plan, it becomes a stopgap,” said Marcolongo.
Hydrogen also faces hurdles.
While 41 new hydrogen plants have been commissioned, most remain small-scale. “Hydrogen has momentum on paper, but we are far from scalable offshore production,” Marcolongo said.
As the EU enters the second half of its critical 2020–2030 climate window, the report calls for “system-level thinking” to meet both climate and energy security goals.
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