In 2021, the EU spent €13.8 billion on imports of green energy products (including wind turbines, solar panels and liquid biofuels) from countries outside the EU. Meanwhile, the EU exported green energy products worth less than half this amount (€5.7 billion) to countries outside the EU.
Specifically, the EU imported €9.8 billion worth of solar panels, €3.4 billion worth of liquid biofuels and €0.6 billion worth of wind turbines from countries outside the EU. The value of imports of solar panels and liquid biofuels was much greater than the corresponding value of EU exports of these goods to countries outside the EU, which amounted to €1.3 billion for both. In contrast, the value of exports of wind turbines to non-EU countries was far greater than the value of imports (€3.2 billion), Eurostat reports.
Exports of liquid biofuels only totalled €0.5 billion in 2012 and grew to € 1.7 billion in 2019. However, in the last two years these exports decreased, falling to €1.3 billion in 2021.
In terms of value, imports of wind turbines and liquid biofuels into the EU in 2021 were higher than they were in 2012, showing an overall increase of 418% and 7% respectively, while imports of solar panels decreased by 3%. Exports of wind turbines and liquid biofuels were also higher than in 2012 (+9% and +173% respectively, while exports of solar panels dropped by 13%. However, while the last three years saw an increase in the exports of wind turbines and solar panels, there was a decrease in the export of liquid biofuels.
