(Commonwealth_Europe) Europe is beginning to sweat under a new reality, one it hasn’t quite prepared for. Power grids, many built for cooler climates, are already creaking under pressure. When temperatures spike, electricity demand follows, and it often outpaces what wind and solar can deliver. That’s left governments grappling with a pressing dilemma: how to keep their citizens cool without worsening emissions or triggering blackouts.
In France’s Médoc region, the signs of this shift are everywhere. Bordeaux just recorded a blistering 41.6°C (106.9°F), and even its most iconic buildings are adapting. At the centuries-old Château Monbrison, the owners quietly installed air conditioning this spring. The sleek Mitsubishi units, mounted discreetly against historic stone walls, were chosen as much for their subtlety as for their cooling power, a balancing act between comfort and preserving heritage.
What’s happening in Bordeaux is playing out across much of Europe. Places like the Netherlands and the UK now experience a surge in demand for air conditioning, which was once seen as unnecessary or even extravagant. Residential AC sales have doubled since 2010, according to Daikin, a leading manufacturer. In Germany and Austria, online retailer Galaxus recently reported record-breaking sales. Meanwhile, Samsung is increasing its budget for technician training in Europe by 10% annually to keep up.
France, interestingly, has now outpaced Italy and Spain in AC market growth, according to Hitachi. In just four years, household air conditioning use in France jumped from 14% to 25%. That percentage is anticipated to rise to 50% by 2035.
Behind the boom is a grim statistic: Europe is warming at twice the global average. Cooling degree days, a metric that reflects how often buildings need cooling, have more than tripled in Paris over the last 20 years. Today, Paris feels more like Barcelona in the 1990s. Berlin’s summers resemble those of Turin. Even Brussels is starting to mirror the climate of coastal Croatia.
Northern Europe is joining in. Scandinavian countries, long considered too cold for cooling, are also seeing growth in the AC market.
“Cooling used to be a luxury,” says Simon Pezzutto, a researcher who’s tracked this trend for over a decade. “Now, it’s a basic need.”
Governments are taking notice. Austria’s national energy plan now flags rising cooling demand as a direct risk to grid reliability. France has issued similar warnings. These are not abstract concerns. Just this June, during a brutal heatwave in southern Europe, parts of Italy experienced blackouts when the grid couldn’t cope.
According to Isabella Nardini from the Fraunhofer Research Institution, the issue is partly timing. When everyone turns on their AC units in the afternoon heat, electricity demand can spike dramatically in just a few hours, pushing national grids to their limits.
And it’s not just the quantity of ACs but the kind of people who are choosing. Many households are buying small, portable models, which are cheaper and easier to set up but much less efficient. The International Energy Agency says that space cooling already accounts for 10% of electricity use in buildings globally. In Europe, that share is only expected to grow. When renewables can’t meet demand, utilities often fall back on fossil fuels like gas and coal.
“Rising AC use is propping up fossil fuel generation at exactly the time we’re trying to phase it out,” explains Sabrina Kernbichler, a lead power analyst at Energy Aspects.
There’s also the challenge of the buildings themselves. Much of Europe’s architecture was designed to retain heat, a feature that’s helpful in winter but increasingly problematic during the extended summers. Yet only about 1% of Europe’s buildings are renovated each year, a pace far too slow to keep up.
In dense cities, where space is tight, fitting AC units is particularly tricky. Nardini points out that clustering condenser units can worsen the urban heat island effect. These units don’t just cool inside; they dump heat outside, keeping street temperatures elevated well into the night. That heat lingers, affecting sleep and health.
But retrofitting buildings and redesigning cities isn’t just about engineering. In Europe, it’s cultural. Many people still resist air conditioning, not just because of cost or energy use, but because they find it ugly, noisy, or out of place. When France recently proposed limiting uncontrolled AC expansion, Marine Le Pen accused political leaders of hypocrisy. “They want the public to suffer in the heat while enjoying air-conditioned offices and cars themselves,” she wrote on social media.
Still, attitudes are beginning to shift, especially among younger people. At Daikin, Yeliz Yener Minareci says demand is growing for quieter, more aesthetically pleasing models that are also energy-efficient. She believes the most important factor for European buyers is sustainability over the full product lifecycle.
Take Amadej Petan, a 27-year-old project manager living in Paris. When he bought his first AC unit in June, it wasn’t a decision he took lightly. He looked for an option that used less energy and had a smaller carbon footprint. Ultimately, the decision hinged on the ability to work in the heat without losing focus.
More and more, that’s the calculation people across Europe are making, weighing climate values against daily discomfort and realising that adaptation, whether we like it or not, is no longer optional.
