Only five countries got more than half their electricity from renewable sources: 50%, Austria (72.6%), Sweden (64.9%), Portugal (54.1%), Denmark (53.7%) and Latvia (51.3%).

At the other extreme with less than 10% came Malta (6%), Luxembourg and Hungary (both with 7%) and Cyprus (9%).

Eurostat said that in terms of the sources of renewable energy, hydroelectric was the most important (36.9%), followed by wind power (31.8%), then solar energy (11.6%). The other sources – such as biogas, geothermal energy, renewable rubbish and wood – contributed 19.7%.

In May 2016, All of Portugal’s electricity needs were assured by renewable energy for four days, which was a national record, environmental organisation Zero said.