![\"Data](\"https:\/\/100re.org.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/chart-2-en-2026-10-20-2.png\")
Financing the transition remains a bottleneck. Four years after REPowerEU was launched, approximately 82% of the programme’s earmarked funds have yet to be drawn down.<\/p>\n
Solar installations across Europe avoided roughly \u20ac40 billion in gas import expenditure between March and mid-October, according to industry association SolarPower Europe. The calculations surfaced as European Council leaders held their October 15\u201316 summit, where the conclusions echoed the sector’s priorities.<\/p>\n
The savings, however, have not resolved a deeper structural problem: when electricity demand peaks, gas-fired plants still determine the marginal price on the grid, leaving consumers facing elevated rates even when a significant share of supply comes from renewable sources. “Forty billion euros \u2014 that is the amount Europe did not have to spend,” said SolarPower Europe CEO Walburga Hemetsberger, while cautioning that the continent remains exposed to fossil fuel price swings.<\/p>\n
Summit conclusions backed the sector’s diagnosis. Heads of state identified accelerated electrification, expanded grid infrastructure, and the deployment of storage as the most effective instruments for durably reducing energy costs, and called for coordinated measures to protect businesses and households from future price shocks.<\/p>\n