each eu citizen consumes 4,815 litres of water per day on average; 44% is used in power production primarily to cool thermal plants or nuclear power plants. energy production annual water consumption in the eu 27 in 2011 was, in billion m³: for gas 0.53, coal 1.54 and nuclear 2.44. wind energy avoided the use of 387 million cubic metres (mn m³) of water in 2012, avoiding a cost of €743 million.