Energy: Almost 60 percent of electricity came from renewables in the 1st quarter
In the first quarter, 58.4 percent of electricity was generated using renewable energies - a new record for the first quarter of the year.
Wind turbine in the Hemelinger Marsch in Bremen.
(Image: heise online / anw)
Electricity production from renewable energy sources rose by 11.6% in Germany in the first quarter. During this period, they generated 58.4 percent of the total 121.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity produced. A year ago, the share was 48.5 percent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this is the highest share of renewables in a quarter at the beginning of a year since the survey began in 2018.
Electricity generation from conventional energy sources fell by 25.4% to a share of 41.6% or 67.7 billion kWh of domestic electricity production. The share of coal shrank from 29.7% to 23%. After the final nuclear phase-out on April 15, 2023, the 4.4 percent share of nuclear power a year ago became zero and the share of natural gas rose from 14.9 to 15.8 percent.
Wind power remains the most important energy source
Among the renewable energy sources used to generate 63.7 billion kWh, the share of wind power rose from 31.8% to 38.5%. The share of electricity generated with biogas grew from 5.5 to 6 percent, and the share of photovoltaics from 5.1 to 6.6 percent. Hydropower electricity accounted for 4.5% compared to 3.5% in the first quarter of 2023.
16.8 billion kWh of electricity were imported to Germany in the first quarter of the year compared to 12.1 billion a year ago. Exports amounted to 16.8 billion kWh, compared to 21.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023. The increase in electricity imports and the simultaneous decline in exports meant that the amount of electricity actually available and demanded in Germany remained almost unchanged compared to the same quarter of the previous year, explains the Federal Statistical Office.
The statistics include all power plants and generation facilities in Germany that feed electricity into the grid for general supply. It does not include electricity generated in industrial power plants and consumed directly by industrial companies.
(anw)