Wood Mackenzie's latest outlook for 35 European power markets shows zero-carbon electricity reaching 80% of the mix by 2030, even though the EU27 will likely land at 63.7% renewable generation, short of both the 65% Fit-for-55 target and the 69% REPowerEU goal. Solar PV is set to nearly double to 637 GWac, while battery storage climbs from 47 GW to 163 GW by 2030, led by Germany, the UK, Italy and Poland. The report warns that curtailment risk rises where grid infrastructure lags behind renewables. Gas capacity is still expected to grow 5% to 273 GW by 2030, but utilisation falls to 22%, positioning gas as a flexibility resource rather than baseload. Power demand is projected to rise 11% by 2030, driven in the near term by data centres, and later by EVs, hydrogen and heating. Transmission buildout and interconnector expansion are the main swing factors. Wood Mackenzie sees the zero-carbon share reaching 93% by 2050, with coal exiting the EU27 mix by mid-century.
