Energy poverty and needs in EU rural areas

In its initiative towards more resilient rural areas, the EU’s Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas underlines the need to fund building renovation in rural areas, boost local renewable energy production and reduce energy poverty. In this policy brief, we look at the EU’s territories, and especially its rural areas, through these two connected perspectives: energy poverty and energy needs in the building stock. Data on thermal comfort, economic strain and dwelling energy efficiency indicates that rural areas in the EU could face higher levels of energy poverty compared to urban areas, especially in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. On the other hand, rural areas are leading in renovations, with 29% of rural residents living in dwellings that improved their energy efficiency in recent years. A mostly low-rise rural building stock with large volumes per inhabitant, however, poses challenges for energy efficiency and needs in rural areas. In this context, rural areas stand to benefit substantially from rooftop photovoltaic development, aided by larger roof areas per inhabitant and a large share of rural ownership (78% of owned dwellings). With extensive rooftop PV adoption, rural areas could potentially produce 2 200 kWh/inhabitant annually, 38% more than the average household electricity consumption in the EU.