Europe has been spared a gas bill of more than €40 billion. That is the estimate published by SolarPower Europe on 15 October for the value of gas imports displaced by EU solar installations between 1 March and 15 October 2026. The period covers the seven months since the outbreak of the Middle East war, which has shown once again how quickly geopolitical events can feed through to European energy bills.
The figures were published as EU leaders gathered for a European Council summit dominated by the question of how to insulate households and businesses from the next fossil fuel shock. In the conclusions of their 15–16 October meeting, the leaders pointed to electrification, renewables, grids and storage as the most effective path to structurally lower energy prices. They also called for a predictable carbon market that keeps a price on emissions.
The solar fleet at work
The avoided imports show how much Europe’s existing solar fleet is already contributing. According to SolarPower Europe, solar output between early March and mid-October substantially cut the amount of gas burned for electricity, which improved energy security and protected consumers from higher fossil fuel costs.
Europe’s clean power passes a stress test, but flexibility gap widens
SolarPower Europe points out that, seven months into the war, fossil fuel markets remain vulnerable to geopolitical disruption. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and now the Middle East war were each treated as exceptional, but together they are starting to look like a pattern. In the association’s view, the EU can no longer treat fossil fuel price spikes as isolated episodes.
Walburga Hemetsberger, chief executive of SolarPower Europe, was plain: “€40 billion is the bill Europe didn’t have to pay.” In her view, the solar fleet had once again shown the value of homegrown renewable energy in a period of geopolitical uncertainty. But Europe, she warned, remains exposed to fossil fuel price volatility, and it is households and businesses that end up paying.
What Brussels is being asked to do
SolarPower Europe is calling on the EU to adopt an emergency package that would take effect within the next year while also tackling the structural causes of Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels. The proposal rests on two measures.
The first would boost solar power and electrification on homes and business premises, so that households and companies produce and use more of their own electricity. The second would speed up the rollout of large-scale battery storage, which, according to the association, would mean gas sets the electricity price less often and cheap renewable power is on hand when demand is highest.
REPowerEU: four years on, 82 percent of funding still unspent
As long as gas-fired plants set the electricity price at times of high demand, consumers will keep paying a price tied to gas, even when most of their power comes from renewables. Rooftop solar reduces how much electricity has to come from those plants, and batteries can step in at the hours when gas would otherwise set the price.
Council conclusions and the policy pipeline
The European Council’s conclusions on 16 October brought that argument to the top table in Brussels. EU leaders called for a “coordinated European response” of targeted and temporary measures to tackle high energy prices and invited the Commission to examine further short-term measures. They identified reducing dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets as an “overarching imperative” and said the energy transition is the most effective strategy for structurally lowering energy prices. In particular, they named accelerated electrification and the deployment of renewable and low-carbon energy, grids and energy storage.
On carbon pricing, leaders called for a well-functioning, transparent and predictable carbon market that still allows the carbon price to drive investment and innovation. That wording is likely to be read closely as negotiations on revising the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive continue.
Reacting to the summit, Dries Acke, deputy chief executive of SolarPower Europe, said the conclusions rightly recognised that renewable-based electrification and energy storage are Europe’s best protection against fossil fuel price shocks. He argued that faster deployment of rooftop solar is a quick, proven way to cut household energy bills, while large-scale batteries can store cheap, abundant renewable electricity and push out expensive gas plants at times of high demand.
Acke also wants electricity to compete with gas on equal terms. In his view, fairer energy taxation and a strong, predictable carbon price are essential if electrification is to become the affordable choice for consumers. He sees the ongoing negotiations on the Electricity Bills proposal and the ETS revision as the key chance to lock that in.
The next test
The solar industry has long made its case mainly on climate grounds. Its pitch to Brussels is now built almost entirely around security of supply, price stability and consumer protection, with decarbonisation treated as a welcome side effect.The €40 billion figure fits that argument, because it puts a number on what existing solar capacity delivered this year.
Eurelectric urges smarter tariff design for electrification
Whether this argument translates into faster permitting, stronger support for self-consumption and a serious push on grid-scale storage will become clear over the coming months. The Commission is working up the short-term measures the Council requested, and the European Parliament and member states are negotiating the Electricity Bills proposal and the ETS revision. For Acke, the priority now will be to accelerate deployment and make sure Europe never ends up in this fossil fuel trap again. (hcn)
