A new milestone in reducing emissions from electricity generation in Europe
The year 2024 marked a significant decline of approximately 13% in CO₂e emissions linked to electricity generation among the companies in our selection, falling from around 330 Mt CO₂e to 286 Mt CO₂e. This trend follows the strong momentum of 2023, which had already seen a record 23% reduction compared with 2022.
Compared with 2019, the selection’s emissions have decreased by 34% on average. Between 2023 and 2024, 15 of the 27 companies in our selection reduced their emissions directly linked to energy production by at least 10%, while seven utilities reduced them by more than 25%, leading to significant decarbonisation of the European energy mix.
A record low for the European Carbon Factor in 2024
The European Carbon Factor continued to fall, reaching an all-time low in 2024 against a backdrop of significant decarbonisation. The average European Carbon Factor for our selection stood at 181 kg CO₂/MWh, down from 211 kg CO₂/MWh in 2023, representing a reduction of around 14%. This is a continuation of a trend that started in 2023, a year that saw an exceptional reduction of 18% compared with 2022.
Energy producers are stepping up their decarbonisation strategies by reducing the use of thermal power stations and disposing of their highest-emission assets, such as coal plants. Eighteen utilities in our selection reduced their energy production from non-renewable sources. As a result, the Carbon Factor was down in 2024 for 21 of the 27 companies in our selection.
Evolution of energy mixes and the breakthrough for renewables in Europe in 2024
Renewables now account for more than one-third of electricity generation among the companies in our selection in 2024. Analysis of the 27 companies shows a 10% year-on-year increase in renewable electricity generation, while total electricity production across the selection grew by only 1%.
Among renewable sources, hydropower benefited from particularly favourable weather conditions in both 2023 and 2024, leading to a 10% increase in output between the two years. Wind power now represents 10% of the selection’s total production (up from 8% in 2023), reaching 153 TWh, with a record 10% increase year on year.
Solar power continued its strong growth trajectory, with output increasing by more than 53% between 2023 and 2024, from 11.4 TWh to 17.4 TWh. However, it still represents only 1% of the selection’s total energy mix.
Contrasting biodiversity ambitions among renewable energy utilities
The accelerated development of renewable energy is a key lever in the fight against climate change. However, renewable energy infrastructure can also have a direct or indirect negative impact on biodiversity, mainly during the construction and operation phases, varying according to the technologies used.
All energy companies in the selection that publish a Sustainability Report consider ESRS E4 (Biodiversity and Ecosystems) to be material, underlining the growing importance of biodiversity-related matters. Nevertheless, the level of integration remains uneven:
27% of sector players have made no commitments, reflecting either low prioritisation or an exploratory phase in addressing biodiversity matters;
55% have defined outcome-based targets with a timeline, demonstrating a willingness to structure and formalise their biodiversity strategies.
To assess the potential impact of renewable energy players in our selection on biodiversity, we also evaluated the land use associated with their solar and wind capacities. The land use of solar farms has increased significantly, while that of wind power is evolving more slowly. This difference is explained by the faster deployment of solar farms – 6 to 18 months compared with 3 to 7 years for onshore wind – as well as their greater social acceptance.
“European electricity generation continues its decarbonisation at a sustained pace. To keep Europe on track towards carbon neutrality by 2050, it remains essential to maintain efforts to decarbonise the energy sector. Other sectors, which are experiencing a sharp slowdown in the pace of greenhouse gas emissions reduction, will benefit from these advances to support their own energy transition.”
PwC's approach
Our low carbon strategy roach to support economic stakeholders in their energy transition:
- Designing a decarbonisation strategy: The projects carried out by our teams include measuring companies’ environmental footprint and setting targets based on the Science-Based Targets initiative.
- Implementing decarbonisation measures at the operational level: We help companies translate their strategic commitments into an operational roadmap, define the relevant KPIs associated with each decarbonisation lever, select and deploy the most appropriate carbon footprint tool, and identify financing levers, such as carbon credits.
- Measuring products’ environmental footprint and eco-design: We carry out strategic analyses based on product category and environmental impact (life cycle assessments), and define an eco-design approach.
- Drawing up adaptation scenarios: Our expertise also covers climate risks, with a 360-degree perspective that includes physical risks as well as the possible consequences of transition risks and opportunities (business and financial impacts). Our aim is to work with our clients to design customised adaptation plans that incorporate nature-based solutions and address governance issues with the various stakeholders concerned.
Our biodiversity proach to support companies and public stakeholders with their strategy:
- Training and gap analysis: We break down the complexity of regulations (such as the EUDR, ESRS E4 under the CSRD, Article 29 of France’s Energy-Climate Law and the EU Taxonomy) and international frameworks (such as those issued by the TNFD and the SBTN) for executives and their teams. Through targeted training sessions and interactive workshops, we help participants better understand biodiversity matters, while conducting a gap analysis between current practices and the requirements set out in these regulations and frameworks.
- Materiality and maturity assessment: We carry out qualitative and quantitative assessments of the impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities related to biodiversity, based on recognised methodologies (such as the TNFD LEAP approach). We help companies conduct biodiversity footprints and map out their sensitive sites in order to identify and prioritise areas of action.
- Forward-looking strategy: In line with regulatory expectations and international standards, we help companies devise a biodiversity strategy, which includes an action plan aligned with France’s “ERC” guidelines (based on the avoid, reduce and offset principles), measurable objectives and precise performance metrics.
Download the European Carbon Factor 2025 study
What changes have been observed?
Methodology
The objective of our European Carbon Factor study is to consolidate and present comprehensive information on CO₂ emissions from Europe’s main electricity and heat producers, and to analyse key changes between 2001 and 2024.
We analysed Europe’s 27 largest electricity producers based on the following criteria:
Electricity and heat generation (in TWh);
Emissions (in tonnes of CO₂/year) related to electricity and heat produced;
Carbon Factor (in kg CO₂/MWh generated);
Proportion of energy produced from renewable sources;
Key trends in Carbon Factor, CO₂ emissions and proportion of renewables;
Alignment of revenue with the EU Taxonomy;
Land use of renewable energy (in hectares) and biodiversity commitments.
We updated and recalculated historical production and emissions data for certain companies to reflect the latest published figures. Due to updates made by companies in this study (scope changes, data corrections, forecast revisions, etc.) and changes in our analysis perimeter (new players added), the 2023 energy production figure for our selection differs slightly from the figure published in our 2024 study.
