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It has now been roughly sixty days since the bombing of Iran began. Europe is in its second fossil fuel crisis and this one is hitting even harder. In the words of Fatih Birol, the 2026 crisis is “bigger than all the biggest crises combined, and therefore huge.”
Petrol at €1.80–2.20 a litre. Gas bills climbing before contracts even expire. Over €24 billion spent on energy imports in less than two months.
In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe scrambled. It extended coal plants and signed new LNG deals. In 2026, the response, from both policymakers and European citizens, is different. Electricity is not part of the problem, it is the way out of it.
What the Commission got right and where it needs to go further
On 22 March, the European Commission published its AccelerateEU Communication, a toolbox designed to help Europe navigate the current crisis while accelerating the longer-term shift away from fossil fuels. The Electrification Alliance broadly supports the direction the Commissions announced with it.
The Communication does something important: it explicitly ties energy security, affordability, and electrification together, instead of treating them as competing priorities. It treats electrification as the mechanism through which Europe solves all three at once.
Some important measures deserve recognition:
- An upcoming legislative proposal to lower electricity taxation: this is long overdue, electricity is currently taxed more heavily than fossil fuels in most Member States, an outdated and backwards incentive that slows the transition.
- The strengthening of the Electrification Action Plan: due in June 2026 the Plan is now expected to include an “ambitious electrification target”
- The inclusion of an indicative target for storage to reach 200 GW by 2030: reflects the importance of flexibility in building a resilient and dependable energy system fed by clean homegrown energy sources
- A sped up adoption of the Grids Package: without grids, there is no electrification. Renewables can be generated, but if the infrastructure to move that power to where it’s needed isn’t there, electrification at scale cannot happen
- The attention paid to social impacts: social leasing schemes for heat pumps and EVs, income support for vulnerable households, and incentives designed to ensure the transition doesn’t leave people behind
That said, the Communication builds largely on existing instruments rather than introducing new funding at EU level. Delivery rests heavily on Member States. This might however be an opportunity for each country to now identify and address its own barriers to electrification.
“If there is one key technology for Member States to focus on, it is smart meters and flexibility. By giving people the means to consume electricity when it is cheap and green and plentiful, and avoid it when it is gas-fired and expensive, we can slash electricity bills and we can make an overwhelming business case for heat pumps and EVs. Those are the two main technologies for reducing fossil fuel dependency. Heat pumps can replace over half of Europe’s gas consumption and EVs can replace two-thirds of our oil dependency.” – Adrian Hiel Director of the Electrification Alliance.
Europeans are not waiting
And while Brussels was drafting its Communication, across Europe, consumers began doing the maths, and the maths pointed toward clean electricity.
Take solar. In the UK, E.ON reported solar inquiries up 63% in March compared to February. Octopus reported a 54% rise in solar panel sales, with homeowners not just buying but supersizing, opting for 12-panel systems instead of the usual 10. In Germany, Enpal saw around 30% growth in inquiries for solar panels and heat pumps in mid-March. Renewables provider 1KOMMA5° reported demand doubling month-on-month. In Italy, the government’s Conto Termico 3.0, a state incentive scheme for heat pumps and solar PV, was forced to temporarily suspend applications on 2 March due to an unprecedented surge in submissions accounting for more than 1.3 billion euro.
Take heat pumps. Sales of residential heat pumps went up 25% in the first quarter of 2026 in France, Germany and Poland.
Take electric vehicles (EVs). EV registrations are accelerating across all major markets. Europe’s five largest countries, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland, have all recorded more than 40% growth in BEV sales so far this year.
The economic logic is clear. European diesel hauliers are facing monthly fuel costs 1.5 times higher than their electric truck counterparts. T&E estimates that electric trucks could cut European oil imports by 22% by 2035, saving Europe €28 billion.
Meanwhile, SolarPower Europe‘s live calculator shows that since the start of the current conflict, solar PV generation across Europe has already avoided €8.5 billion in gas import costs.
The same direction
What makes this moment different from 2022 is that electricity is a safe haven. Not a future promise or a long-term ambition, but the thing people are running toward when fossil fuel prices spike. Consumers feel it. The Commission has recognised it. And the economics are proving it. The missing piece is speed and scale: enough funding, enough ambition in the Electrification Action Plan, a high electrification target and enough political will from Member States to remove the barriers that still slow deployment.
News:
News from the Electrification Alliance
- The new Electrification Alliance Website is online! Take a look.
- On April 13 the EA and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) co-hosted a high level roundtable and networking event on the topic of Energy Security. To that occasion, the EA launched its new paper Recommendations for the Revision of the Energy Security Framework. Building on the growing urgency to reduce Europe’s dependence on imported fossil fuels in an increasingly volatile geopolitical context, the paper sets out the Alliance’s priorities for revising the EU Energy Security Framework. To find out more about the event check out our recap here. To read the paper, look here.
Latest EA publications:
- Recommendations for the Revision of the Energy Security Framework (Paper)
- Electrify Europe for Energy Security: high-level event launches new momentum in Brussels (News)
- AccelerateEU helps consolidate the EU’s Energy Sovereignty (Press release)
News from Members:
In April, E-Mobility Europe, New AutoMotive and the European Alternative Fuels Observatory launched their monthly EV Bulletin highlighting a slashing of 2 million barrels/year through immense EV sales growth. The highlights of the April edition on electric vehicle sales across key European markets included:
- Battery electric vehicle registrations rose by 51% YOY in March 2026, with over 242,000 new electric cars registered across 15 key EU markets, representing 22% of all new car sales.
- More than half a million electric cars were registered in Q1 2026 alone, cutting oil consumption by an estimated 2 million barrels per year.
- Europe’s five largest markets – Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland – have all recorded BEV growth exceeding 40% year-to-date.
You can read the bulletin here.
The European Heat Pump Association published it reaction to the AccelerateEU toolbox by the European Commission highlighting that “The goal of 4 million heat pumps by 2030 is positive but the sector already has the European manufacturing capacity to deliver far more”. Read more here.
smartEn Smart Energy Europe published a new video explainer highlighting how demand-side flexibility can help address structural imbalances between supply and demand. By shifting consumption to the cheapest and cleanest hours, it can reduce costs, optimise the use of renewable energy, and lower dependence on fossil fuels, supporting a more efficient and resilient energy system. Watch the full video to see how these dynamics work in practice. And if you want to find out more about flexibility you can register for the 2026 of FLEXCON and snatch one of the early bird tickets.
On 8 April, EuropeOn – The European Electrical Contractors Association organised an in-person skills brainstorm in Barcelona, kindly hosted by their Catalonian member FEGiCAT – FEDERACIÓ DE GREMIS D’INSTAL·LADORS DE CATALUNYA. The session, which also included the participation of GCP EUROPE, brought together skills experts, business owners, and members of the Skills Working Group. Read more here.
Submissions are now open for the 13th edition of the RGI Grid Awards – your chance to spotlight inspiring solutions that are shaping the future of sustainable electricity grids and driving the energy transition forward. Organised by the Renewables Grid Initiative, the awards celebrate impactful and collaborative achievements across three categories including technological innovation, environmental protection, and public engagement. Submit your entry by 5 July and share your success with a global audience. In April, RGI’s Global Initiative for Nature, Grids and Renewables (GINGR) released a new white paper, co-authored by RGI’s CEO Antonella Battaglini and GINGR – Global Initiative for Nature, Grids and Renewables’s environmental coordinator Adrián Maté, titled “Electricity Grids: Guiding Principles to Integrate Climate, Biodiversity and Social Goals”. And don’t forget to register for the public workshop organised with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to discuss co-design activities of DestinE’s energy research with industry, research and policy on a technical level, in small-groups discussions.
On SolarPower Europe’s side, Electrification took centre stage at this year’s SolarPower Summit. The overarching theme of this year’s summit was Solar+, focusing on how solar power combined with electrification, battery storage and flexibility solutions can bolster Europe’s energy system. A standout panel on industrial electrification brought perspectives from the ceramics and metals sectors, highlighting both the urgency of reducing fossil fuel dependence and the practical barriers industry still faces. Despite challenges around prices and infrastructure, the direction of travel was clear. If you couldn’t make it, you can always read SolarPower Europe’s report, ‘Solar+: An EU pathway to achieve renewable targets, price affordability, and energy security‘.
Lastly, in April WindEurope has held its Annual Event in Madrid on 21-23 April. It was attended by European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen and Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gave an opening address. 15+ other national Ministers and State Secretaries participated in the 3-day conference programme. In the Madrid Call to Action, the wind industry laid out how Europe can move from crisis to confidence, with 10 concrete actions to boost renewables supply, connect supply to demand, and incentivise direct electrification. The second day of the event was largely dedicated to electrification, with various panels discussing the way forward. Read our press release for more information. Alongside the Madrid Call to Action, WindEurope also released a new report on wind energy dis- and misinformation, highlighting how false narratives about wind energy spread online, undermine the buildout of wind energy, and threaten Europe’s security and competitiveness.
This article was originally posted as part of the Watt’s Next Electrification Alliance newsletter. For timely updates subscribe here.