GHG intensity of electricity mixes in 2024: Assessing the impact of photovoltaic generation in the European Union

This study generates updated country-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities of medium-voltage electricity consumption mixes for EU nations in 2024. Building on the ecoinvent database as a baseline, the photovoltaic generation at medium voltage was adapted to account for all renewable sources at this level. The updated renewable shares for modeling the electricity mixes were derived from the ENTSO-E data of 2024 curated by Fraunhofer ISE in the Energy-Charts. This update is particularly relevant given solar power's rapid growth to 10% of total EU electricity generation in 2024, while renewables overall reached 46%, becoming the EU's largest electricity source. Results show substantial variation in national GHG intensities, ranging from 51 g CO<inf>2</inf>-eq/kWh in France to 847 g CO<inf>2</inf>-eq/kWh in Poland. Compared to 2021 baseline values, 19 of 22 countries demonstrated GHG emission reductions between 12% and 52%. The model update significantly influenced the GHG intensity reductions, particularly in countries where solar electricity generation exceeded 10 TWh/a in 2024 and represented more than 5% of the electricity mix, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Greece. A sensitivity analysis for Germany indicates that voltage-level allocation assumptions influence medium-voltage GHG intensities by up to 5%, whereas high-voltage intensities remain largely unaffected. These updated GHG intensities reflect the rapidly evolving European electricity landscape and can support more accurate life cycle assessments, particularly for products manufactured in medium-to small-scale industries using medium voltage electricity.