In 2022, more than half of electricity consumed in the Faroe Islands came from fossil fuels, at about 54%, while low-carbon sources supplied the remaining 46%. Hydropower provided just over a quarter of electricity, at 27%, and wind supplied almost a fifth, at 19%. Clean electricity therefore already played a substantial role, but expanding its share would help reduce the climate impacts and air pollution associated with fossil fuels.

Is Electricity Growing in Faroe Islands?

Electricity consumption is growing: in 2022, it reached a record of about 8,900 kWh per person, surpassing the 2021 record by 821 kWh per person, or roughly 10%. Low-carbon electricity generation also reached a new record of about 4,100 kWh per person, exceeding the previous peak from 2015 by 187 kWh per person, or nearly 5%. Both gains are welcome, although clean electricity needs to grow faster to support future demand from electrification and AI while replacing fossil-fuel generation.

Suggestions

The Faroe Islands should build on their existing wind generation, drawing lessons from nearby Denmark, where wind supplies 57% of electricity, and Ireland, where it supplies 35%. These regions offer particularly relevant examples for expanding wind electricity in a northern Atlantic setting. Solar should also be considered as a complementary clean source: Denmark generates 15% of its electricity from solar, demonstrating its contribution even at northern latitudes. Nuclear deserves consideration as another route to expanding low-carbon electricity, with Finland generating 38% of its electricity from nuclear and France 67%. These examples provide useful lessons, while any Faroese plans should be tailored to local electricity demand and infrastructure.

History

The supplied historical figures show no reported year-to-year changes in hydropower or wind generation across the listed years of the 2000s and early-to-mid 2010s. They also report zero change for biofuels in 2021 and for wind and hydropower in 2022. However, these changes are expressed in TWh, a large unit for the Faroe Islands, so the zeros may reflect rounding rather than an absence of growth; the selected entries also do not cover every year. Consequently, they cannot establish continuous stagnation. The record low-carbon generation reached in 2022 is encouraging, and sustained, measurable expansion of clean electricity should remain a priority.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade